Family for Jade
by Jarka
Summary: story about a girl adopted by Weasleys. First year at Hogwarts and getting used to the idea of forever family
1. letter to Molly

**This is a story about a girl being adopted by Molly Weasley and her family. Set in time when Ron was 9 years old. She didn't know she was a witch but will soon find out. Enjoy! **

**And I'm sorry for all the grammatical mistakes I'll make – my English isn't perfect but I'm trying my best.**

I'm 10 years old. And once more a family kicked me out. Right now I'm on my way to the orphanage. Foster care system, it seems, have run out of families who would be able – and willing to take me in. That means it took me 9 years of constant changing of homes and orphanages to get here. I've never been at this place, it's a rather big London orphanage with lots of kids and no identity.

Today is Monday. It's raining – but it's nothing unusual in London.

A young lady welcomed me at the entrance.

"You must be Jadelynne"

"Just Jade" I replied.

"Ok then honey, come on in, there are some forms we have to fill" she put her hand on my shoulder (and I shook it off involuntarily, just a habit I picked up during the years – there were some pretty rough homes and in those which were ok, I didn't stay long enough to get rid of all the habits I learned in bad homes. Like don't rely on adults, don't trust them when they say this is forever, don't let them get too close etc.)

I noticed a shade of sadness, which crossed Miss Jones' face, but soon it was replaced by the original smile.

She led me inside into the biggest library I've ever seen with two comfortably looking chairs positioned in front of the desk with piles of papers and forms.

There were usual questions asked – why do I think the last family wasn't able to keep me. What happened? Did they do something bad to me? Verbal abuse? Why did I behave like I did?

And finally the question, which always came – what happened the last day, the day when they kicked me out?

Of course she didn't use the term "kick someone out", she said, "decided it would be better for me to live somewhere else".

I don't know. I never knew what and how and why things happened. Once it was raining and suddenly there was big blue umbrella in my hand. I didn't steal it, I swear.

The other day I climbed a tree and fell down, but the thing is – I didn't fall, I kind of flew down, softly landing next to my freaked out foster father. Things like this happened. A lot, lately.

"I see" Miss Jones shook her head. "Of course things like this happen. I just can't understand how you slipped through the cracks, why we didn't get you a proper family at first place?"

I had no idea what she was talking about. Clearly all those things were my fault, there was nothing wrong with families – that's what they always said.

"Now, now, we will get you a room so you can settle down, and I promise you one thing Jadelynne, I will find you a family soon, I know exactly what you need."

And with wide, although a sad smile she took me by the shoulder and showed me the way to my new room.

The same, very same day, actually it was only a couple minutes after Miss Jones left Jade in her room, she found herself sitting behind her desk again, franticly scribbling a letter to her friend. And if you could read over her shoulder this is what you would see:

_Dearest Molly_

_I need your help._

_You see, we have this girl here, she was in foster care since 9 months old and Molly, oh Molly, she had to spend all those years with muggles and no one ever told her it's ok to do strange things, no one ever understood her. Molly, she needs a family. Family like ours who could take her in. We're in London, and you know this is not a place for kid to grow up. _

_Molly, do you know someone, maybe in your village, someone who could take her in?_

_She is almost 11 Molly and she is so shy and quiet, she needs someone to love her._

_Molly…_

And Miss Jones didn't know what else to say, should she tell her friend how many homes kicked Jadelynne out after only few weeks? Should she tell her how deranged and scared the kid looked? How she seemed to fade away most of the time, disappearing, hiding and never really smiling?

Should she tell Molly about the home where Jadelynne was a year ago, where she was abused and treated like a slave most of the time?

No, this wasn't her story to tell.

And so she finished the letter with simple but powerful exclamation, which few hours later grabbed Molly by her heart and never let go.

_Molly, save the child.!_

_Your friend _

_Mathilda Jones_


	2. Long day at work

**Chapter two - I hope you'll enjoy it :) please read and review! :)**

When Arthur came home from ministry, the sun was already setting down and there were no children running around with Molly chasing them around which meant they went to bed on time tonight.

He smiled for himself as he stepped over a pile of toy shovels and an old pan which Ginny now used in her mud-pie kitchen set up next to the pond. It looked like they could finally have one quiet night, just the two of them, maybe sit in the living-room or maybe even cuddle in bed for a while before one of the kids wakes up and asks for water.

He hang his cloak next to the door and set his briefcase on the kitchen table (which had now new coat of blue paint probably spilled during "craft time" which Ron requested every morning after breakfast when grass wasn't dry enough to go outside. A little bit of water wouldn't stop him of course, but his mom liked to have some free time in the morning while she finished the chores around their tiny kitchen and it was nice when she didn't have to keep an eye on two little kids playing next to the pond.)

Arthur went upstairs in hope of quick cold shower (it was already incredibly hot outside – this late April afternoon) and then heading of to bed after long time at work.

He climbed the stairs silently, remembering to step over all the squeaking stairs – in hopeless try not to wake any of the kids. They however seemed to instinctively know every time he came home, because there was a pair of tiny children's voices crying "Daddy!" from upstairs.

He gave up all the attempts to hide his presence and run up the stairs, kissing Molly on the way, as she came out of their bedroom carrying crocheted blanket, just in time to greet her husband.

"Hi honey!" he yelled and loudly kissed her, almost knocking her off her feet as he caught second breath, after hearing his kids from their rooms.

It would never grow old to him – hearing his little ones call him daddy.

He stomped upstairs, first stopping at the door of Ginny's room. The shutters were closed but she had night-light on and her room was filled with shades of little hearts.

"Hey sweetheart why are you still awake? Now, go to sleep honey, it's late." He cooed at her, Ginny's eyes already closing.

"I was waiting for you daddy." She replied and turned to her side facing Arthur sitting on the edge of her bed, already asleep.

"I love you Ginny." Shushed Arthur although she didn't hear him anymore, and kissing her cheek he slipped out of the room, leaving the door opened just a lil bit – like his daughter requested every night.

Then he climbed to another floor – and Ron was already out of bed, sitting on the last stair, his head resting against his palm, wearing just the bottoms of his pajamas which were bright orange and already too short for him.

"Hey buddy, what are you doing out of bed?" Arthur asked picking up his youngest son. Boy wouldn't allow to be carried, because "he is 9 now" normally, but he was almost asleep, and so he just cuddled to the shoulder of his daddy and just murmured seriously

"I wanted to know if you will come to my room too and wish good night to me too"

"Of course I would, there's no way I would miss wishing sweet dreams to my favorite boy in the house!" replied Arthur pretending to be devastated by the idea itself.

Ron giggled and went back to sleep.

Mr. Weasley walked slowly down the stairs smiling and thinking about the house being too quiet when most of the kids were at school. He found his wife standing in the doorway of the newest room of the house – added just a couple of months ago.

Molly always dreamed about having a guest room, so they wouldn't have to accommodate their guests in room of one of the children.

Twins' room wasn't a safe choice – you never knew what you could find in there.

Percy rarely gave up his room – and when he did, it wasn't without pouting and arguing – because he needed his room to study.

Ron's room was out of question, they couldn't ask the precious guests to climb 6 flights of stairs.

Ginny's room was full of stuffed toys and all her treasures, which she found outside while playing with her brothers. Bill and Charlie didn't use their rooms so much as they weren't home most of the time, but Molly liked to keep their rooms ready – just in case one of them came home unnoticed. She loved every one of her kids dearly and always wanted them to feel like they could come home and have a place to stay.

And so, this Christmas Arthur surprised her by building a guest room over the kitchen. It wasn't big, and the roof was pretty low so you couldn't really stand close to the walls, but there was beautiful triangular window on the southern wall, filling the room with sunshine during all day. The roof was painted blue, and the shade changed with time – so at night it was ink blue while in the morning it changed to the pale hue of forget-me-nots.

Molly loved it, she was so excited, claiming it to be the nicest gift she ever received.

Arthur made little bookshelves on the sides – on the ground close to the room, and ever managed to fit his old desk next to the door.

Molly made curtains of beautiful white lace and they put her old bed under the window, and an old carpet, which was still fluffy and had rich purple color, and after washing it, Molly was pleased to restore it's original fluffiness.

Now we can have guests over, maybe in summer, I could invite one of our old school friends – Molly used to hum before going to bed every night since Christmas.

It was pretty cute little room and a pride of his wife, so it didn't surprise him at all when he found her standing at the doorstep, looking at the room being light up by the last blinks of sunshine. He hugged her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Enjoying the view of your guest room Mrs. Weasley?" he teased kissing her cheek again.

"I was thinking Arthur, maybe I'm not meant to have my own guest room."

"what do you mean honey? What's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked worried.

She just handed him a piece of paper, wrinkled because of the way she was holding it for a while. He read a couple of lines and suddenly understood, taking Molly by her shoulders and turning her around he was prepared to face sadness and maybe worried face, and was already checking the list of their friends who could take in this little child who needed home. He was sure Molly was freaking out because she didn't come up with anyone, but maybe one of his friends, maybe a colleague from work…

But as Molly turned around there was soft smile spread across her face and there was that motherly glow in her eyes. He could literally see all the plans in her head, the way she held the crocheted blanked in her hands, the way she looked up at him with that silent question in her eyes.

He just stared at her speechless.

What was he supposed to say? It seemed like she already made her mind.


	3. don't get excited

_He just stared at her speechless. _

_What was he supposed to say? It seemed like she already made her mind._

Could it really be? Did she want to bring one more kid to their house? Burrow wasn't really big, it had smallish kitchen and really tiny living-room and only 2 bathrooms and… but how could he say no? How could he say no to one little girl who didn't know what family means for her whole life?

Of course Arthur wanted another child, of course he'd love to have one more little one running around the house during the year when his boys were at school, but could they afford one more kid? One more mouth to feed?

Would Molly really give up her dream of guest room? He knew he couldn't build another one, at least not for next ten years or maybe even more, they just didn't have the money.

Molly looked up at him with those big brown eyes, waiting for him to say something.

She wouldn't insist if he told her it wouldn't be possible, she would be terribly sad, he knew that, if she had to find some other family for this kid, but she wouldn't argue. With Arthur being the one working 10 hours every day and paying for all the expenses of his big family she really wouldn't argue.

But how could he say no? He already saw Molly setting one more plate on the kitchen table for dinner, he already saw one more pair of rain-boots on the porch.

And so it was decided. He smiled, with that dreamy smile Molly remembered from every time she told him there will be new little one coming to their family.

He always smiled the same, already looking into the bright future, he wanted for every one of their kids.

He just leaned down and kissed her, with all he had. It was the sweetest kind of kiss, filled with love and peace and excitement at the same time.

And so Molly stepped into the room and put the blanket she was holding on the bed. And as Arthur watched her, he realized this wasn't a room for guests, this wasn't bed for strangers, it was all meant to be, the blanket crocheted from tiny bits of left-over yarn, finished today, the fluffy (old) carpet and mustard-plaid sheets on the bed (he remembered them as Fred's – there was big blue patch in the middle of the pillowcase from the day when Fred set it on fire). It was all meant to be, that there will be soon another pair of little feet jumping into the puddles on their yard.

…

I spent next 4 days mostly lying on the bed pretending I didn't exist. They didn't sign me up for school because Miss Jones was sure I'll be moving soon. For some reason I believed her. I knew I won't stay here. And sometimes I simply knew what was going to happen and this time Miss Jones was right.

They might find just one more family who would take me in, but I doubted they were going to keep me.

Friday, after dinner, Miss Jones called me to her office and announced – with the widest smile I've ever seen- that she found a perfect family for me. And I had to smile with her. I didn't believe there was a family for me, a family that would keep me longer than a month or two, but I had to smile because she seemed too happy for me to ruin her happiness just like that.

"We will leave tomorrow at 6 in the morning ok? It's a long way from here and I need to be back for lunch."

With promise of early start tomorrow morning Miss Jones sent me to the bathroom with instructions to wash my hair and ears and neck and fingernails and brush my teeth and pack my things before I go to bed.

As if I had unpacked anything, as if I had anything to unpack at the first place.

I climbed to my bed, my face still red from the hot bath I took. It was almost ten o'clock but I couldn't sleep.

Could you? Knowing tomorrow there will be one more trip to some distant place, one more home where you won't stay long but you didn't know how long exactly, but also one more chance?

Somehow I knew this is the last chance and I wanted it to work out, I wanted to have a family, someone to take care of me, but I knew I couldn't let them became too close to me. They would ditch me after first mishap – sooner or later.

Next morning, when Miss Jones woke me up, it was still dark outside and all the kids in the orphanage were asleep.

I knew the drill – put on the nicest clothes you had – not a problem for me because I only had one set – after they kicked me out from the last home – it was in a hurry and people seemed to be really freaked out after my flying accident with the tree.

I was impossibly clean (that didn't last long – I usually managed to get dirty before breakfast – not really dirty – it was only nature – soil, grass and such –mind you? It's clean dirt in general) – foster families didn't like dirty kids. I always lived in the city with girls wearing pink bows in their hair designer dresses and shiny mary-jane shoes and played with Barbie and tea sets. I had short brownish hair and I never had any skirt or dress on.

Well I did at first, but it was really impractical and foster parents said it's inappropriate to climb trees when you're wearing a dress. It was only a matter of time when they gave up and let me wear jeans. I had to cut off the bottoms because they were already falling off and they were too short anyway. I had one tee-shirt originally white and red striped, now it had all shades of pink and yellow in it. With my black sneakers and black socks and cut lip (from that tree incident) I looked ridiculous but there was nothing I could do about it.

I went downstairs for breakfast.

She had a cup of coffee and gave me a bowl of porridge but I couldn't eat. I was too nervous. And I yelled at myself in my mind. Don't be silly, they're not going to be your family. Don't get your hopes up. And yet, I didn't convince myself and was practically jumping with excitement.


	4. Burrow

**sorry I didn't update yesterday but it's been crazy at school lately and I have to study for the exams :P ...here's another chapter, and I promise I'll update again tomorrow.**

**and if you'd like to see the room Molly prepared for Jade - it's in my profile picture :) ...please read and review!**

...

The ride was long, through main streets of London, smaller cities, small towns and finally villages, more and more green fields and golden hills, when sun finally got up, everything was still wet from morning rain. It looked like magic with little rainbows everywhere.

We stopped at gas station to use the bathroom and get something small to eat.

All I managed to swallow was small bar of chocolate, which wouldn't pass as acceptable breakfast in any other circumstances but Miss Jones said it's better than nothing and paid for it. It was probably delicious but I was so nervous it tasted like wax to me.

Meanwhile at the Burrow, cursing Mr. Weasley shut the gate behind him and disappeared. Why does it have to be today. He took a day off from work. It was special day, he deserved one free day. That was all he was asking for, one day, but no, some stupid wizard had to change muggle bicycle and than fly on it across the country. What a silly idea!

Molly tried to calm him down, saying they will celebrate Jade's homecoming at dinner instead of lunch, that they will wait for him and that it will be probably better if she had time to meet them one by one. But it didn't do any good to Mr. Weasley,, he simply wanted to be there when his new daughter comes home for the first time. Was it so hard to understand?

Molly watched him from the kitchen window, drying dishes from breakfast. It was a little bit after eight in the morning and kids were already outside playing in overgrown grass. She could hardly see the tops of their heads, but they knew to keep close to the porch so she let them out earlier than usually. She didn't want to risk any more paint spills in her clean kitchen.

Last couple of days, she climbed all the way up to Ron's room and back down to the kitchen several times, cleaning every bit of their house. Miles of laundry were hanging outside drying on the sun every day, she scrubbed every pan, cup and fork they had, even Ron's nose got a big scrub yesterday in an effort to make him look presentable this important morning. Ginny still couldn't feel her elbows from all the cleaning and scratching that happened previous night during her bath time. She fell on the way to the village and scratched both of her elbows really bad. She didn't care about them, but black dirt got stuck on them and it wasn't acceptable for her mom. So she went to bed last night sobbing because believe me, it hurts a lot when you have to wash scratched elbows.

…

They were driving again and Miss Jones had something to say.

Jade knew it, she was good at recognizing all different expressions and Miss Jones looked particularly funny when she couldn't decide how to start.

"Jade, you know how strange things happen to you from time to time?"

Of course she new, it was pretty hard to ignore them if they happened to you. And here was "the talk" about how she should try to behave and not to do anything odd, how this family will love her, only she has to be a good girl and play like other kids do. She knew it. There was the same talk every time she went to new home.

But Miss Jones surprised her by saying it's completely normal. That it happens to kids like her. Like her? What does that mean?

"Jade, you're like me, you're like the Weasleys, like lots of people. Jade, you're…."

You're, you're, you're what? Why didn't she finish?

"Freak?" girl asked and almost made Miss Jones laugh.

"No, that's not what I wanted to say. You're not a freak, no one, is a freak. You're a witch honey. And it's absolutely normal, trust me."

Witch? What? Is this some kind of test? Like if I believe her then I'll be sent to some hospital because there has to be something wrong with me?

Miss Jones explained, she talked for one hour straight and slowly it started to make sense. But could it be? Why didn't they tell her earlier? Why it was her who was different?

"we're almost there, I think you'll like it" said Miss Jones softly, interrupting the train of thoughts running through Jade's head.

After five minutes of drive the narrow road with nothing but miles of green forests and fields ended by the gate. Jade jumped out and opened it for Miss Jones and after jumping back inside the car she suddenly felt weak. Her knees started to shake.

There was something about the way the grass wasn't cut, and the gate and fence painted in turquoise, that made her feel strangely at home.

She felt like she belonged here.

Could this really be my new home?

There was mailbox with rusty name tag – saying Weasleys – Burrow. We turned left and behind a small hill there was the most beautiful house I've ever seen. It wasn't big, but it had at least five floors and million of tiny windows. Roof was dark chocolate brown with bushes of wildflowers here and there, growing in rain pipes. The kitchen door was divided in two and the upper part was opened. There were wellies all around the place, and plants planted in pots and giant tomato plant climbing on the sidewall of the kitchen. And even a hen or two, looking for lost grains in the grass.

Miss Jones climbed out of the car and opened door on Jade's side, and pulled her out to the sunshine. She combed my hair out of my eyes and straightened the collar of my tee.

"Don't worry, you'll like it here" she said again and I just nodded. It wasn't the matter of me liking it here, all I needed was _Them_ liking me here.

I swallowed hard and felt Miss Jones squeezing my shoulder and pushing me a little bit forward.

It was so busy here, I couldn't see any people around but I heard muffled giggling from the other side of the house and millions of birds singing to each other and crickets everywhere. There was an old radio on, in the kitchen and ducks in the pond, and everyone and everything seemed to be in a hurry.

I started to relax and just then a woman came out of the kitchen door, holding a dishtowel and polka-dot mug in her hands, still drying it as she looked around the yard. And out eyes met…


	5. introductions

_I started to relax and just then a woman came out of the kitchen door, holding a dishtowel and polka-dot mug in her hands, still drying it as she looked around the yard. And out eyes met…_

"Oh my goodness! You're finally here! I didn't expect you until lunch time!" she threw the mug on the porch swing and run the short distance to us and pulled me into the biggest hug I had in years.

"I'm so happy to finally meet you Jade, oh look at you! Such a big girl! Now, now, we need to fatten you up a little bit, let's start that with some breakfast and I'll see if I can have you back in form before summer!" she smiled down at me and loosened the hug – just enough for me to start breathing again.

"Mathilda, come on in, I'll fix you both some breakfast and a cup of tea, or coffee?" Molly chatted away. She was nervous herself, but could see that Jade didn't feel very confident either.

She's just a girl, just like my Ginny, she thought, there's nothing to be afraid of, I only hope she won 't be disappointed. All I can do now if get her something nice to eat. I always said that every great day starts with great breakfast.

"I'm sorry Molly but I won't be able to stay, there is a job waiting for me in London and I should be back there for lunch, I'm already late. But I'm sure you girls will manage on your own." Miss Jones hugged Mrs. Weasley, promised she'll write her again soon, ruffled my hair and excused herself.

Ok, so what should I do now?

Mrs. Weasley didn't give me much time for thinking; she pushed me inside the kitchen and told me to sit down. Than an endless train of questions began.

"Would you like some cereals with milk? Or maybe a toast with scrambled eggs? Or bread with butter and jam? We have fresh butter, I made it yesterday." She looked at me, waiting for answer.

What should I pick? I usually got something small, cheap and something that didn't require any effort from the side of my guardians, if I got any breakfast at all. Was there any right answer? Would they send me away for picking something wrong? I once got into argument with one of the kids at my foster home over a pop-tart. It wasn't really an argument, I only asked if I could have one and than she yelled at me for the rest of the day and by the end of the week I got sent away because I "didn't fit in" with the family.

"Bread, please?" I said and it sounded more like a question.

"Oh, ok then, I baked the bread this morning and we have strawberry jam – is that ok with you?" she didn't wait for my answer, just continued: "it's one of the last jars from last summer, you see, we don't have any strawberries yet, but they should be ready soon." She brought me a plate with huge piece of bread, richly buttered and topped with sea of bright red jam which contained whole strawberries.

I took a bite. It was delicious, sweet, almost sickly sweet, but not too much – just the right amount of sweet taste of summer fruit mixed with creamy butter and fresh home-baked bread. I closed my eyes, to better enjoy the sensation. I never had home-baked bread. One of the foster families used to buy bread in little bakery on the corner of their street but it was almost always already cold. This one was still mildly warm and incredibly crunchy on the sides. I looked up at Mrs. Weasley and suddenly felt urge to tell her, to tell this incredible woman who was standing there almost scared, waiting for my comment about it.

It was simple snack, there is nothing more ordinary than bread with butter and jam, but she made it taste like some b-day cake. Really, I don't think any cake could be tastier.

"Oh, Mrs. Weasley, it's unbelievable, the jam, the bread and real butter, thank you so much! It's the best breakfast I ever had."

Wide smile spread across her face as she rushed over to me and hugged me from behind.

"Aren't you a sweet little thing! No one around here ever said something so beautiful about my meals!" she wiped a tear from under her left eye.

"Now, here's a cup of cocoa and when you finish your breakfast, we'll have to talk about something important. Don't worry, it's nothing bad, it's just a little thing you need to know about our family and also about yourself." She smiled again, went to the sink and started to fill big pot with water.

"You mean, we have to talk about me being a witch and your family being…" I didn't know how to finish the sentence, I didn't want to upset her, she smiled so beautifully at me.

"…about our family being a family of wizards. That's right dear, so you already know? And you are ok with it?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her voice filled with concern.

I nodded and tried to smile, but all I managed was a weak grimace. Damn the stupid nervousness.

"All right darling, that makes things so much easier!" She laughed and waved her hand with a piece of wooden stick.

Suddenly everything came to life. Dishes started to wash themselves, the heavy big pot filled with water flew across the kitchen to the stove and blue flames appeared underneath. There was a napkin, with came on its own and folder itself neatly on my knees.

I just sat there with wide eyes, jam dripping from the bread I still held in my arm.

So this is magic! This is what Miss Jones meant when she said I'll like it here. It was the coolest thing you could imagine!

I quickly finished my breakfast because I saw that kitchen was all clean and tidy and my dishes were the only ones left.

I picked up my plate and mug and brought them to the sink where they jumped right under the water. Then I heard Mrs. Weasley behind my back yelling from the window.

"Ronald, put it down this instant and come back here! I told you not to do that!"

A muffled response came back from outside but I didn't understand what it was about. Oh my, I only hope that the boy won't get into trouble. I hated trouble but it always seemed to find me.

"Excuse me…" said Mrs. Weasley and hurried out into the garden. I carefully leaned to the side to see though the window. There was a boy with bright red hair outside, looking up at the sky and next to him little girl crying and tugging on his t-shirt. Her face was almost purple, and big crocodile tears were running down her cheeks, forming dark stain on the front of het tee.

I saw their mom coming to them and taking out her wand. Oh no, this can 't be good, what was she going to do?

But she only pointed it to the sky and suddenly a small teddy bear came flying and landed in little girl's outstretched arms. She hugged it close to her and wouldn't let go, when her mom tried to take her hand. As they were coming closer, I could hear the boy apologizing.

"I'm sorry mom! I said I'm sorry, but it wasn't on p-rpose!" he whined almose crying. "Ginny asked me to make her teddy fly and then I couldn't take him do-own!" He was starting to get hiccups.

"Alright, alright you two, just try to play nicely next time." Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Now, will you introduce yourself?" she pushed her kids inside the kitchen and suddenly they became shy.

The awkward silence wasn't helping the situation very much so I started myself:

"Hi, I'm Jade, I'll be staying with you for a while. I'm 10."

The little girl came closer to me, took my right hand to her left and shook them. "Hello, I'm Ginny, I will be 8 this summer." And then the boy joined her, waving at me from across the room. "I'm Ron her brother, and I had my b-day last week, I wish you were here than, we had huge cake and even butterbeer and twins sent me all those sweets from Hogsmade…"

"Ron, that's enough for your introduction, I'm sure Jade will listen to your serenades about food and candy later. I have to show her, her new room, and you two should head back upstairs and change from your pajamas, it's almost ten now and you're still in PJs ! Up you go!"

I noticed that Ron's pants were a little bit too short for him, but he had them tucked in his rain boots so they pretty much survived the morning trip to the garden, however his younger sister wasn't as successful as him. Her pants didn't quite make it to her wellies and even now as she was standing in the kitchen, back of the hems of her lovely pink pajama pants were hiding under dirty heels of her boots.

There was a little puddle forming around her as all the rain water dripped down from her shoes.

Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to notice at all, I only hoped they won't get into any more trouble for that.


	6. strawberry stain

Ron and Ginny kicked off their rain boots at the bottom of the staircase and disappeared in the labyrinth of zig-zag corridors and stairs leading up to all the bedrooms of the family.

I followed Mrs. Weasley upstairs. There were thousands of photos, hanging on the walls. Some of them were black and white, pictures of young Mrs. Weasley and some man with square glasses and wide smile. Some showed Ron and Ginny, but there were also photos of other boys with red hair just like Ron had, and Jade couldn't really figure out how many different brothers she now had.

we stopped in front of one door, on 4th floor. Mrs. Weasley turned to me and sid:

"So, honey, this is gonna be your room. I hope you'll like it, it's not very big, and we put there my old bed and Arthur's desk and there isn't much stuff in there but we can decorate it later when you'll decide what exactly you want to have there."

And then with a smile she opened the door and I saw my first real room for myself. It had blue ceiling and big bed with beautiful colorful blanket and it also had triangular window and the sun was shining right through it. I turned to face Mrs. Weasley and I couldn't help myself, but I had to exclaim.

"It's beautiful, so perfect! I really love it Mrs. Weasley! Thank you so much!"

She closed the distance between us and pulled me into another hug.

"Dear, you don't have to call me Mrs. Weasley! I'm Molly. I don't expect you to call me mom like kids do, if you don't want, but at least call me Molly ok?

I'll leave you alone for a while, so you can unpack and settle in. Please come down when you'll be ready. Kids usually read for an hour before lunch and I'd be happy to get you some book so you can practice reading and maybe also learn something more about our world."

Then Molly turned around and left me standing in the middle of my room.

I didn't have much to unpack, just some underwear and socks and my diary which I stuffed under the pillow. I sat down on the bed and looked down and there it was!

A big stain from strawberry jam on the hem of my tee. What now? I could try and wash it with soap, but then it would be all wet, and I doubt strawberry jam will come off just like that.

Great, first hour here and I already misbehaved. It wasn't really my fault, the bread was so soft and strawberries too big to stay on it and it just fell down, before she could catch it.

What now?

I could always hide it and try to wash it later but I didn't have any other top. …ahem…Molly said before, that I can take any of the tees she put inside the top drawer of the cupboard but could I take them just like this? Without asking? Maybe I should ask, but then I'd need to admit I spilled the jam.

I sat down on the bed desperately looking for some solution when Ginny run in.

"Oh, sorry, I should have knocked" she giggled "mom told me to always knock before I enter someone's room, but your door was open, will you braid my hair? Oh that's nice stain!" she exclaimed and started giggling again.

I tried to shush her, there was no need for her mom to find out about it.

"So, will you?" Ginny asked again.

"What?" I asked clueless, still thinking about the stained shirt.

"Will you braid my hair?"

"Oh, sure, do you have elastics?"

"right here" Ginny jumped up and down holding two pink elastics in her tiny hand.

"ok, sit down on the chair and…" I didn't have time to finish, and she threw herself down on the floor, resting her back against my knees.

Ginny looked up at me and explained that she always sits on the floor when mom braids her hair. Then she passed me her brush and sat still.

I put two French braids into her hair – one on each side of her hair.

As soon as I finished, she jumped up and hugged me around my waist.

"You should change that tee and put it into dirty laundry – mom will wash it later" she said as if it was the simplest thing on the world.

"But this is the only t-shirt I have, and it was my fault that I made a stain on it, maybe your mom won't want to wash it for me – if it was my fault." I tried to explain.

She frowned and look at me with confused look at her face. She opened her mouth as to say something but then just opened the top drawer and pulled out one blue tee with white stars all over it.

"yuuuck, you have only boys' tees here! Nothing pink!" she sounded really devastated.

The shirt she was holding was awesome, although not new, but clean and much nicer than my old one. Mrs. Weasley said she put there some shorts and tees from the boys, for now, before she has time to take me shopping but why would she take me shopping if I had t-shirts like this for me? Maybe boys wouldn't like it if they knew I had their clothes?

Ginny started to pull out all the tee-shirts and shorts and throwing them on the ground, looking disgusted, trying to find something pink or at least girly.

I came to her and stopped her, putting all the clothes back as neatly as I could and than changing into the tee with stars. She grabbed my old top and carried it out.

"Come on!" she called from the stairs and so I followed her down to the kitchen. There was a big laundry basket in the corner with lots of socks and pajamas in it. Ginny threw my tee on top of it and run to her mother who was chopping carrots on the table. She hugged her and exclaimed.

"Look! Look mommy!" pointing to her head.

"Oh my, Ginny! Look at you!" Molly jumped out of her chair and spun Ginny around, while the girl giggled and held the ends of her braids!"

Molly looked at me and smiled so widely I was afraid her lips might break.

"Now, girls, when you look both really beautiful and ready for the day, let's find you some books to read, shall we?" suggested Ginny's mom and went to the living-room.

She didn't even mention my new tee and didn't yell at me because of the red stain, clearly displayed on top of the laundry basket. I decided to ignore it like she did and followed them to the small library in the corner of the room. It held great number of books and despite reading every book I could during my school years, I didn't know any of these.

Molly kneeled down and then sat back on her heels holding two books.

"Here, Ginny, you could finish the Tales of Beedle The Bard and you Jade, I thought you might like this one." She passed me a small red book.

It had golden printed title on top. Fantastic Creatures and Where To Find Them.

I looked up at her. How could she know I loved animals so much?

Molly just told us to go out and sit on the porch swing while we read and she went back to the kitchen to finish preparations for lunch.


	7. popsicles

Girls were sitting outside on the porch swing and Ginny didn't read at all. Jade saw her looking all around paying absolutely no attention to her book.

That's why Jade found the courage to ask her some of the questions she wanted to ask so badly.

"Ginny?" she murmured. The young red-head turned to her, putting her book down on the fleer under the swing.

"Do you know if I will be going to school with you?" asked Jade.

"Oh no we don't o to school, not until Hogwarts. You see, mom teaches us the basics, how to read and write and count and dad explains some things about muggles from time to time and geography. But mostly we learn from books – that's why we're supposed to read every day before lunch. But mom isn't very strict about that – because we will learn everything really important at Hogwarts anyway." Explained Ginny and leaned over the back of the swing and picked a particularly long grass leaf. Then she tied it around her little dirty toe like a ring. And she continued:

"We have afternoons free so we can do whatever we want, we usually play outside or go for a walk around the woods and sometimes when dad comes home early from work, he lets us fly around the backyard."

Jade wasn't sure what her new friend meant by "flying around the backyard" but it had to be something really serious if kids needed their dad's permission and also Ginny looked like it took a lot of concentration just to think about it.

The door opened and Ron came outside carrying a big plate with sliced apples, already stuffing one really big piece into his mouth.

"Mom sends you apples to snack on, until the lunch I ready." Said Ron, and when Ginny took the plate from him he slid against the wall, crossed his legs in front of him and opened a book.

That's when Jade started to read the first chapter of her own little book and didn't stop until Molly called them inside for lunch.

Ron was a quick reader, when the book was interesting enough for him – that means when the book was about quidditch – but Jade was faster, she loved reading and the book Molly chose for her was the best book she has ever read. Of course she didn't believe half of the things written inside but she liked it never the less.

Lunch was fabulous, creamy onion soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

When they finished eating and put their plates into the sink, Molly told them they had the rest of the day free but asked Ron if he could go down to the village and buy some flour because they run out of it and they'll need at least two pounds for bread if they want to have any breakfast tomorrow.

"Sur mom." Ron mumbled and wiped his forehead. It was starting to be really hot outside. Molly took an old cowboy hat from the hanger next to the door and put it on Ron's head. "Here, take dad's hat, it should protect you a little bit from the sun." She said and Ron was really happy to wear the hat of his daddy. Jade really wanted to go with him, because she has never been shopping in a village where no muggles lived, but she didn't know if it would be ok to go. Maybe it was a special job for Ron and girls were supposed to stay here. But then Ginny exclaimed:

"We want to go too mommy! Please please please!"

"Ok dear, but are you sure? It's so hot outside and you could just stay here and lay on the blanket in the shade of our trees or…" Suggested Molly.

"No, I want to go!" Ginny crossed her hands in front of her and pouted.

"Well, if you are sure about it. And what about you Jade? You want to go with them?"

Jade smiled and nodded. Of course she wanted to go!

"Here, Ron, take good care of the money, and maybe you could take the red wagon and get 6 pounds of flour while you're there, and get yourselves some popsicles." Molly smiled at her three kids and helped Ginny straighten up the sunhat she put on.

Then she pulled out a blue bandana and tied it around Jade's head to protect her from the sun. Then she pulled out a bottle of some white potion which smelled lice chamomiles and put it on children's noses and cheeks.

"It will help you not to get sunburned red noses." She giggled when Ron tried to wipe it off.

"Ok, off you go! And don't take too long, your father should be back home around 5!" said Molly and let them out.

They run down the road, through tall grass with their sneakers hanging around their necks on shoelaces. Molly said they'll have to put them on – at least at the village – she didn't want anyone to talk about her children with dirty feet.

When they came to the hill, Ron stopped and helped Ginny to sit down to the wagon. He sat behind her, leaving enough space for Jade at the end. She hesitated a little but didn't want to ruin their fun so she jumped in as well.

Ron took the string from the front and Ginny grabbed his knees and Jade pushed them forward. The hill wasn't big, but they were pretty heavy – all three of them together – and so the ride was really fast. Ginny giggled and Ron yelled at grasshoppers to get out of the way because the spaceship is coming . They stopped suddenly when the front wheel hit big rock and all three of them flew over each other landing on a big pile, still laughing. It took then a while to get back together but everyone was alright apart from a couple of scratched knees (Ron and Jade) and a big hole on Ginny's dress.

The rest of the way was uneventful, they put on their sneakers and walked across the village in relative silence, only Jade asked some questions and kids tried to answer them as well as they could.

The store wasn't big, but the shopkeeper was really kind and smiled at the kids when he helped them put all 6 pounds of flour into the wagon. Then he repaired the front wheel which was slightly squished and let them choose their favorite colors of popsicles.

Jade wasn't sure if she should get one too. What if Molly didn't count with her? What if she wasn't supposed to get a popsicle?

But Ron just looked at her like she was crazy and got her a red one.

When they got out of the village and finished their popsicles, they took off their shoes again and let the tall grass growing on the road leading to Burrow, tickle their legs.

It was the best day of Jade's life so far, but she was pretty anxious to meet the rest of the family. What about Mr. Weasley? And all the other boys who went to Hogw… to school, she couldn't remember the exact name of it. Would they come back today? Or maybe next weekend? Was it a boarding school? When will they meet? Thousands of questions popped out in her head and as they had a pretty long way back home, She started to ask them one by one…


	8. storm of questions

**hi there, here's another chapter. I'd really appreciate some reviews - just to be sure you like the story so far :) ...also I now it's pretty slow, but just wait until boys come home for summer. :D ...enjoy...and let me know if you have any suggestions etc. Thanks for reading.**

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><p>"Ahem, Ginny? Can I ask you some questions? Hmmm I was wondering…you know…" started Jade.<p>

Ginny just smiled encouragingly and let her finish the question.

"When will your brothers come home from school?" finished Jade, after carefully choosing the right question in her head. She didn't want to look stupid by asking something as obvious as "What is Hogwarts?"

Ginny held out her hand and started to count on her fingers.

"It's almost may, and they finish exams the last week of May, so four weeks. They will come home in four weeks." Ginny smiled at the idea. She missed her brothers so much, even though they kept teasing her whenever they had the opportunity to do so.

Hmm, four weeks wasn't much, time will fly by really fast, Jade was sure about that, and she was excited about meeting them, she just wasn't sure she wanted them that soon. Once they are all home, whole family together, she will feel even more like an outsider.

"Hmm, cool! And how old are they?" Asked Jade once again.

It was clever question, because the answer will also tell her how many brothers Ginny actually has. Jade was good at asking questions. Good questions. The questions, which would tell her more than just the obvious. That was she learned lots of useful things.

This time it was Ron who answered. "Well, Fred and George will be twelve in July. They are twins, you'll see, they look exactly the same and even mom can't tell them apart sometimes because they keep confusing people on purpose. Then there's Percy, he's fourteen, but you won't see him much when he comes home because he locks himself in his room and studies all summer." Snorted Ron with disgust.

"Yup, he's nuts." Confirmed Ginny.

Ron giggled at her comment, because Ginny said it with absolute seriousness.

"and then there's Charlie, he's studying dragons in Romania right now, he's eighteen, and he will come home later, maybe in July, for twins' birthday. And finally Bill, he's twenty and works for Gringots in Egypt. And he promised mom to come home by the end of June, but he'll only stay two weeks." Finished Ron, and Ginny was nodding all the time.

Then they walked in silence because they reached the hill and had to push and pull the wagon together to get to the top. And just as they reached the peak, and looked around to see the view of the village and river, storm clouds covered the sun and everything went black. There was a lightning and thunder and raindrops big as tennis balls started to fall. Soon the rain was so heavy that they could hardly see the road.

Fortunately Jade was quick enough to cover the flour sacks with her bandana and Ron with Ginny added their hats on top. They ran the rest of the way and were greeted by Molly standing on the porch folding the last pieces of laundry. She saved it in time, just before it started to rain.

"Oh my goodness! Kids! I was starting to worry. Quickly, get inside, all of you and go right upstairs and change into something dry." Ordered Molly and used her want to levitate flour and laundry into the kitchen.

Jade climbed the stairs, carefully counting floors to find the right door leading to her room. Ginny and Ron were already in their rooms as she heard two loud smacks of shut doors.

She closed the door behind her and quickly went to the dresser to find something dry to wear because she was starting to get really cold. With all the sun she got today and than the heavy rain, it was a huge change for a girl who spent most of her life in London with bunch of foster parents trying to keep her clean most of the time. Of course she was one of the dirtiest London kids – with all her climbing trees and rain puddles jumping adventures but she never had a chance to experience real rural sun heat and storm in one day.

She was starting to feel a little bit shaky and pulled on a pair of old jeans and flannel shirt and than added one thick sweater with a picture of hippogriff on front.

Than she grabbed her book about magical animals and headed downstairs to the kitchen where, she assumed, it would be warmer. But she stopped in the middle of the staircase, wandering if going down was such a good idea. Didn't Mrs. Weasley tell them to go upstairs?

Did she mean they should stay in their rooms? She didn't hear Ginny downstairs but was pretty sure she heard loud bangs from Ron's room, indicating he was indeed still there.

As Jade was standing there, not able to decide, Molly appeared at the bottom of the stairs. When she saw Jade standing there with confused look on her face she asked quietly:

"Is everything all right dear?" and Molly seemed really concerned so Jade decided to tell her the truth.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me to stay upstairs in my room or if I was allowed to come to the kitchen?" it sounded like a question. Molly just looked at her with even bigger confusion so Jade continued with her explanation.

"When previous foster-parents sent me upstairs it usually meant they wanted me out of their way, and I was supposed to stay in bedroom until they called me, but now I was really cold and I thought I would come downstairs and warm up a little bit in the kitchen, because kitchens are usually the warmest rooms of the houses aren't they?"

Jade found it impossible to stop, she felt rather light-headed and it seemed like talking helped her to concentrate not to loose consciousness.

"Do you feel ok honey? You look a little bit pale. Come here, why don't you sit down and reed your book and I'll make you some tea." Suggested Molly after a while of thinking. She took Jade's hand and led her to the kitchen table, where Ginny was already seated drinking iced lemonade. At the sight of ice cubes another chill run through Jade's spine and she started to shake uncontrollably.

She set the book on the table and slid on one chair – the closest to the stove.

Molly worriedly put her hand on Jade's forehead and sighed. Ginny lost interest in her glass of drink and looked how her mother pulled out a thermometer from the cupboard over the sink. She slipped it under Jade's tongue and went to prepare some tea.

Hot Tea – Ginny almost gagged at the idea of hot tea with honey in summer. But Jade seemed to enjoy it, she hugged the cup with both her hands and when Mer. Weasley took the thermometer from her, she started to sip it enthusiastically.

"Oh, Jade, honey, I think you got a little bit sick because of all the sun heat and rain. Maybe you could go lay down for a bit. If you don't want to go to your room, you can stay here, on the living-room couch. Yes, that will be fine, I'll be able to keep an eye on you. And here, swallow this" – she handed her a spoonful of some sticky brown potion. Jade took it without protesting and then washed it down with her tea.

"It will make you feel better in an hour, but I still think you should get some rest." She pushed Jade in the direction of living room and when she got there, Molly took a heavy comforter from the back of one armchair and snuggled Jade on the couch. It felt so comfortable that Jade even fell asleep for a while, but woke up when a small cold hand tapped her forehead.


	9. writing letters

**Thank you Nanettez for reviewing! Yay! :) –yas, you're right Fred and George were born in April – SORRY guys I didn't check the birthdays before I wrote the chapter…I should have, I know…**

**And I also said that boys will come home from school at the end of May (I know vacation on Hogwarts starts at the end of June, but this way we will have three months of summer fun! …I hope you don't mind… if it's really that important, than I guess I could change it… let me know what you think!**

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><p>She opened her eyes and Saw Ginny's worried face. She smiled at her and wanted to tell her she's fine, but Molly was faster:<p>

"Ginevra! I told you to leave her alone, she needs to rest, she will be ok soon, but let her be!"

Ginny looked confused from her mom to Jade and then back.

"It's all right I already feel better, I don't need any more sleep. Maybe we could play for a while, if you want." Said Jade. She really liked Ginny and wanted to get to know her.

"Alright, I'll bring my dolls down, wait here!" exclaimed Ginny and run upstairs.

She nearly knocked down Ron who was just descending from his room.

"Mom! Have you seen any quill? I wanted to write Charlie but I can't find any. I only have my ink bottle." Asked Ron.

And after his mom told him to look at the window sill in the living-room, he came in and looked at Jade still bundled up in the quilt.

"You alright?" he asked awkwardly.

"Sure, I was just tired from all the things that happened today. You know, busy day for me." Replied Jade. She didn't want him to think she was some kind of princess, getting ill after few raindrops.

After a minute of silence, Jade asked:

"Are you going to write to your brother?" She was really interested to know what kind of relationship the kids had among them. She never went along well with her foster siblings because she never stayed long enough to really get to know them, and also because everybody thought she was some kind of a freak.

"Yeah, I write him every week. I miss him a lot." Admitted Ron and the tops of his ears turned pink.

"That's great! I wish I had brother like that! Who would care about me and miss me and all." Said Jade. She didn't think that missing his brother was something what should Ron be ashamed of. Having someone who loved you was the coolest thing on the world.

Ron looked at her, as if he was trying to decide if he should tell her something or keep it for himself but finally he decided to speak:

"Well, you have that brother now. You know, Charlie is your brother. Sure, you didn't meet each other yet, but you will, eventually. And I'm sure he'll care about you, and miss you when he goes back to Romania.

"He really misses all of us, but everybody seems to be too busy to write him very often, so basically it's only me who send him letters regularly.

Plus you have five more brothers to care for and miss, you know." Now all his ears were burgundy red but he didn't stop: "…and Ginny, of course. We're family now." He smiled at Jade. But she just stared at him, not knowing if he was serious or not.

"Do you want to write him too? IT takes two days for the letter to be delivered there and two days for the way back, so you could have his reply by the end of the week. And I'm sure Charlie would love to receive one more letter."

"one more letter? You mean from me?" asked Jade and tried to imagine why would Charlie, who had big loving family and apparently now, even his own life, want to get a letter from her.

"Why would he want to get a letter from me?"

"Well, you could introduce yourself, I mean, he knows you're here, but that's all. And it's always nice to get some mail, no matter from whom. But you're family now, like I said, so a letter from you would be really nice for Charlie." Said Ron, apparently proud of himself, for explaining it so well.

"hmmm, alright, I think I could try to write him. If you think it would make him happy." Said Jade and slid down from the couch to sit on the floor next to Ron, so they could easily reach the coffee table and write their letters.

Ginny came downstairs with her Harry Potter doll and one which looked suspiciously just like herself.

When she saw the two of them sitting on the floor and writing letters she didn't mind at all. Having six brothers she was used to play dolls on her own, so she jumped on the couch, made high mountain of the abandoned comforter and pretended to be saved from bad mountain troll, by brave Harry potter.

Jade started her letter with big ink spot. It was really tricky to write with a quill but after a while she figured it out.

Jade always write long letters, writing down everything what came to her mind – which was a lot usually – and every time she had to write a letter for her "future family" she filled multiple pages. But now it was different. Now she felt like she could include more personal things, like she could write Charlie everything, because he was that cool brother she always wanted, and he was far away so she didn't feel as embarrasses as she probably would if he was standing in front of her.

And so she started with:

_Dearest Charlie,_

_You don't know me, but we will meet one day and I hope we could be great friends. I always wished for older brother…_

And she wrote about everything, about the orphanage where she was before, about all the foster brothers who just terrorized her and than she somehow let their hair disappear so they woke up bald, or how once her foster brother pulled her hair really bad, and then she decided to cut it short, that's why she now has short hair, because she didn't want to be bullied anymore.

She told him about her imaginary dog, she always pretended was with her, only now she left him outside because she wasn't sure Mrs. Weasley would appreciate wet paw-prints on the living-room carpet.

Jade let her imagination run wild. And when she ended two parchment rolls later with:

_I hope you didn't get bored by my letter – I usually get off topic pretty quickly. I f you did get bored and didn't read it, that's all right – that's what people usually do when I write something – they skip to the end._

_Also, excuse my writing it was my first time using a quill._

_Sincerely your friend Jade._

_PS: Ron looked over my shoulder right now and said I should finish the letter with "Sincerely your sis Jade" and even though I would love to do so, I don't want to pressure you into liking me or considering me your sister if you don't want to – because let's be real here, who knows how long you will all put up with me and when someone will kick me out. But then, I guess I should take this opportunity, as this might be the only letter I will ever write to my brother so…_

_Sincerely_ _your sis Jade._

_PPS: Ron is angry now and says I shouldn't have written that think about him looking over my shoulder, and the thing about him getting angry and this too. He's funny when he's angry don't you think?_

She folded her letter into nice triangular shape which held together quite well and wouldn't open until someone pulled the corner.

"So is there any envelope and stamps or are we going to get them at the post office?"

asked Jade.

Ron was still a little bit angry but he pointed to the kitchen and took his letter with him.

Jade followed him and handed her letter (which was 4 times longer than Ron's) to Molly who took them and opened a window.

Big gray owl flew inside and shook water off her wings. Molly tied the letters to her leg and carried the owl back to the window. She gave her a little cracker and said the letters are for Charlie. Than the owl disappeared in the darkness of the storm.

Jade just stood there with open mouth and when Ron saw her, he completely forgot about being angry and laughed so hard he nearly cried as he pulled shocked Jade back to living-room.

Molly just smiled and turned back to stove. The dinner was almost ready when the clock on the wall showed her that Mr. Weasley is "on the road" and just as the hand on the clock moved to "home" the front door opened and her rain-soaked husband entered the kitchen.


	10. uneventful day

**Thank you ShortieGirl1 for the review! I'm glad you like the story so far! here's another chapter...**

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><p>…<em>the front door opened and Molly's rain-soaked husband entered the kitchen<em>.

"Honey!" Molly rushed to greet him and help him out of the cloak. She quickly kissed him on the lips and hurried to take out cinnamon swirl buns out of the oven.

The scent of buns filled their house in record time, and soon enough reached Ron's trained nose. He could have smelled any food all the way from quiditch playground they had behind the hill.

"Mom, mom! He shouted excitedly is dinner ready yet?" and he jumped up from his spot between the couch and the table so fast that he ruined all the countryside Ginny and Jade made from the blankets and pillows. The Harry Potter doll flew high into the air and landed on Ginny's red-haired doll – which – as Ginny said herself was very rude of Harry, because he should behave like gentleman all the time, even while Ron-attack instead of dragon-attack.

Ginny pouted and started to rearrange the comforter but then realized mom's talking to someone and it had to be her father so Ginny jumped over the back of the couch and landed on her bum. But that didn't stop her and she rushed to the kitchen.

"Daddy! Daddy you're home! Will you play with us?" Arthur picked his youngest up and loudly kissed her cheek.

"Maybe later darling, I have some things to do first." He announced officially and Jade got scared. She could hear him all the way from living-room. She was standing there all alone, unsure what to do. This was definitely a family thing – everyone welcoming Mr. Weasley at home. She felt out of place.

Mr. Weasley put Ginny down and walked into the living-room.

"Welcome home miss Jade, we're glad to have you here." He said with the most official tone he knew and stretched out his arm to shake Jade's hand.

Jade took it and her little hand was lost in his big palm.

"It is pleasure to meet you young lady, I'm very sorry I couldn't be here for your homecoming but there was an emergency at the ministry." He explained his absence.

Jade looked up at him, he seemed to be a really important man, saving ministry and talking like this, she didn't know what to think until their eyes met and she saw a sparkle of mischief in his dark blue eyes. She smiled and he smiled too and when she giggled he started to laugh really hard and soon all the kids and Mr. Weasley were laughing their heads off. Molly just shook her head and went back to the kitchen to set plates on the table.

Mr. Weasley wiped his eyes and with his left hand caught Ginny who jumped on his back.

"I'm Arthur" he introduced himself and smiled.

Now he didn't look scary at all. He walked around Jade to the couch and threw himself down, putting his feet up on the coffee table. Ron handed him the morning newspaper and sat down on Arthur's outstretched knees.

"Daddy! You're sitting on Harry and Me!" exclaimed Ginny and proceeded to pull her dolls from under her father.

"I'm sorry honey, I didn't know Harry came for a visit today! Harry, the Harry Potter?" Arthur pretended to panic and started to smooth his hair down to one side.

He jumped up and laughing Ron fell on the floor.

"There you are Mr. Potter, I'm sorry, so sorry!" apologized terrified Arthur and took the hand of Harry-the doll and started to shake his hand so hard that he almost hit the ceiling.

Jade laughed with Ron but Ginny didn't like it at all.

"I'm telling mom!" she pouted and marched to the kitchen from where they heard her complaints.

Arthur set the doll down, next to him on the couch, and patted its head. Then he put his feet back to the coffee table and Ron climbed back on his knees.

Jade climbed on the couch and sat down sideways, pulling her feet underneath her.

"Arthur I told you not to make fun of Ginny's Harry…" scolded angry Molly from the kitchen but was interrupted by red-faced Ginny: "He's not MY Harry! Mo-om!"

"Arthur! Put your feet down from the table this instant!" finished Molly.

And so Ron fell to the floor for the second time that evening.

Arthur pulled him up from the floor and sat him on his knee.

"Now kids, how was your day?" he smiled at them.

"Good dad, but tell us about ministry! What happened today? Something exciting?" demanded Ron.

"Well, we had lots of little emergencies – like every day, but the biggest case was when one wizard from Southampton decided to make his bicycle fly." Arthur looked from Ron to Jade and shook his head – as if he couldn't believe someone would be that silly.

"And did it work?" asked Jade, speaking for the first time.

"Of course it worked, that's why we had to get there and try to cover it and blame it on some unusual reflection of light in the little particles of mist from the ocean or something." Explained Arthur.

"Awww Ocean I wish we could go to the ocean one day!" dreamed Ron.

"Dinner's ready." Announced Ginny coldly and came to the couch and with a little bit more force than needed took her Harry doll and carried him to the kitchen.

When Arthur marched into the kitchen followed by Ron and Jade, everything was already at the table.

Deliciously looking potato-carrot mash and grilled chicken. A bowl of sweet peas and like a dessert, cinnamon swirl buns with cream glaze on top.

Ron hopped on his chair and started to put everything on his plate.

"Ron! Watch your manners!" scolded Molly, which slowed Ron down but didn't stop him.

Arthur helped Ginny to cur a piece of meat and put it on her plate, then asked Jade which piece she wanted and when she shyly pointed it out he helped her put it on the plate too.

Soon everyone was laughing at Ron who has gravy on his cheek and mouth full of mash and peas. Molly brought a glass of pumpkin juice for everyone and beer for Arthur. They talked and laughed long after the dinner was over and even Jade shared a funny story or two. She was starting to relax more.

At nine o'clock it was already dark outside and Molly sent the kids upstairs to brush their teeth and get ready for bed.

When it was only her and Arthur in the kitchen, he came to her and hugged her from behind as she was putting away clean dishes.

"It went well, don't you think? Pretty smooth and uneventful first day." He whispered to her left ear.

"As uneventful and _smooth _as it could be here in out home. Ron and Ginny behaved pretty well, but just wait until tomorrow when they all forget Jade is new here and all their mischief will be back!" laughed Molly and turned to her husband.

"Don't worry, I will be home tomorrow and I'll find something fun for the kids. No time for exploding half of your kitchen! I promise!" said Arthur and followed Molly upstairs where she kissed every child good night and turned off their lights.


	11. new day

**thanks to Gryffindor Glory and ShortieGirl1 for reviews! you're awesome!**

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><p>Arthur and followed Molly upstairs where she kissed every child good night and turned off their lights.<p>

Jade lay in her new bed. The sheets were soft and smelled like flowers and summer sun. The room was dark. Burrow was far from the village so there were no lights or traffic sounds from the street -like she was used to hear all her life.

Window was closed but Jade left the curtains opened because she wanted to wake up early the next day – so that no one would have to wake her. She didn't like waking up with someone standing close to her bed and looking at her from above. It scared her. She couldn't remember why, but it's been like that since she was a little kid.

Molly didn't close the door completely letting little bit of light from the corridor slip into the room.

Jade climbed down from the bed and walked across the room. She stopped right in front of the door. Should she close it? Would it be too odd to close the door? Would Weasleys get angry? Maybe that was some rule – that door had to stay opened at night? Maybe it was just a habit?

Jade wasn't even sure why she went to close the door. It wasn't like she wanted it closed, but she didn't trust them completely. It was her first night in the house of complete strangers.

They looked nice and it was wonderful day with everyone being kind and smiley but she wasn't sure.

_Murderers can be nice too – they wouldn't wear a sign around their neck saying "killers" would they? But killers don't have children, killers don't bake cinnamon buns._ "Now, you're being ridiculous Jadelynne Larkspur Mraz!" Jade said to herself. "You shouldn't read that much!"

It was true, foster families didn't have many children's books because their kids never read that much so Jade usually picked some book from the library in the living-room. The shelves were usually filled with detective-stories and serious grown-up books, this is why she had silly ideas like that – murderers. Definitely not.

Jade left the door opened, just like Molly left it and she turned on her heel and marched back to bed.

She didn't sleep. At least not much.

She might trust them enough to assume they weren't going to do anything bad, but still, it was her first night in house full of strangers.

Around six in the morning she heard Ginny's tiny voice from the direction of her parent's bedroom.

"Mom! Mom! It's already morning! You said we'd bake bread!"

There were some noises coming from Molly's bedroom and Jade quickly slammed her head against the pillow pretending to be asleep.

"Shush Ginny, everybody's still sleeping, you'll wake the whole house. Honey, the bread is already in the oven I've put it there an hour ago. You had long day yesterday and I didn't want to wake up, but you can help me take it out and put it on the window to cool ok?" Their voices faded away as they went downstairs.

Jade listened carefully but it seemed nobody else was up. The sun was starting to shine through the window so she got up and opened it. Fresh air hit her face and woke her up completely. It was going to be a beautiful summer day. It was first of May and although she could see the drops of yesterday's storm on the grass it was already pretty hot.

She put on the tee from yesterday – it was already dry, hanging on the back of the chair and a pair of blue cotton shorts she found in the drawer. It was already too hot for sneakers so she just went barefoot. She met Ginny in front of the bathroom, happily jumping upstairs to change from her PJs.

"We made bread!" she announced proudly but didn't wait for answer, just continued skipping up to her room.

Jade smiled at her and went to the bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth.

There were ten cups with ten toothbrushes her was light blue. That's all she knew. Than there was the little pink one – probably Ginny's. than orange and two purple although one was slightly paler if you looked really hard. The white and yellow toothbrushes looked almost new – just like hers – as if someone changed them a couple of days ago or as if they weren't used very often. One red and one green in the same cup and finally one grey. Jade tried to imagine which belonged to every member of the family but she failed. She shook her head and left the bathroom.

Stopped at the 3dt stair from the bottom hesitating whether she should go or not. But it was too late to get back to her room because Molly already saw her.

"Jade! Honey what are you doing up so early? Did Ginny wake you up?" smiled Molly and kept steering pot full of porridge.

"No, I just couldn't sleep…any longer." Finished Jade but Molly caught a slightest hint of exhaustion in her voice.

"Oh my… did you sleep at all at night?" worried Molly and put a bowl full of porridge in front of the girl.

She handed her a jar full of peach jam and a mug with brown sugar.

Jade helped herself with the sugar and jam but waited for Ginny and the rest of the family to come down and have breakfast together.

"Is there anything else you'd want?" asked Molly, setting a glass of ice cold raw milk next to her bowl.

Jade looked at the stairs but no one came down.

"Oh, don't worry dear, you don't have to wait for them, Arthur is still in bed, he likes to sleep in – on his days off from work and Ron never wakes up before eight and Ginny probably forgot about her breakfast and is upstairs playing with her _Harry._ Just eat while it's hot._"_ Said Molly and walked out of the kitchen – probably going to check on Ginny – what was taking her so long.

She found her standing in front of her dresser in cut off blue shorts but shirtless.

"What's wrong honey? Don't you have any clean tops? I've put your clean laundry on your chair yesterday." Said Molly and looked around the room to see any evidence of clean clothes forgotten by her youngest.

"Nah, I've put it away yesterday, I just wanted to find some tee with stars, but I can't find any." Cried Ginny desperately and started to dig in her drawer again.

"A tee with sta… Oh you mean like Jade has?" asked Molly finally understanding what it was about.

"Yeah, like Jae has!" exclaimed Ginny, content that her mom understood the dilemma.

"Well, Jade has Fred's old t-shirt, I think George's should be somewhere too, I'll look for it later if you want it that much. Why don't you wear the white one for now." Suggested Molly and went downstairs to finish breakfast for the rest of her family.

Meanwhile, Jade finished her porridge and put the dirty bowl into the sink, where it started to wash itself.

Every little bit of Weasleys household fascinated Jade immensely. There was the clock showing where everyone was. Jae felt a little bit jealous because she wasn't there and again, she felt like she didn't belong. But she shook the feeling off and continued her explorations. In the living room she found a pair of knitting needles with first few lines dark blue (probably) sweater knitting on their own. Jade looked at it for a while when she realized she was no longer alone.

She turned around and saw Molly leaning against the doorframe, smiling.

"Would you like to learn knitting some day? I could teach you. Ginny doesn't like it, she says it's too boring, but it helps me to clear my mind sometimes." Explained Molly. Ginny came downstairs and started eating her porridge.

"Would you like a bit of bread Jade?" Asked Molly and put freshly baked and sliced bread on the table. It smelled heavenly and Jade felt like she could eat it all.

"Yes, please." She said shyly and sat down next to Ginny while Molly spread butter on one slice.

"Would you like some cheese or ham of marmalade?" asked Molly, trying to remember what exactly they had in the fridge what would be suitable for breakfast.

"Just butter, thank you." Said Jade and took the plate from Molly.

"Are you sure honey?" asked bewildered Molly. Jade just nodded so Molly went to get a cup of coffee ready for Arthur when he wakes up. "Just butter…ts ts ts, just butter" she murmured to herself as if she couldn't believe it.

Jade loved the bread, it was still warm enough so the butter was melting and she still had some milk in her cup. It was the best breakfast ever.

"Good morning everyone! " exclaimed Arthur as he stormed down the stairs into the kithen.

"What smells so good? Hmmm, fresh bread! " he buttered one slice and went to his wife for a morning kiss and cup of coffee she had ready for him.

"Love you" he whispered as she poured a bit of cream to his cup.

Molly smiled and blushed a little. After all these years together she was still truly madly deeply in love with her Arthur, and it still made her blush when he said how much he loved her.

"So everyone ready for some quidditch?- today is perfect day for flying!" asked Arthur looking around the table. "Wait, where's Ron? We need fourth player for our team!"

He set his coffee mug down on the table, stuffed the rest of the bread to his mouth and walked upstairs.

"Let him sleep!" called Molly after him but she new there was no stopping her husband.

Soon he came back, carrying Ron on his shoulder.

The boy was still wearing his pajama pants and his hair was a mess – and he was still asleep.

Arthur set him down on the bench which was along one side of the table and Ron's head almost fell into his porridge. Ginny was quick enough to push the bowl aside but it caused Ron's head hit the hard wooden table with all the force.

"Outch!" screamed Ron and startled looked around him.

The fact that he woke up sitting at the kitchen table didn't confuse him at all. He just took his spoon and started his breakfast as if nothing happened – wishing everyone "Goof mohnin" with mouth full of oatmeal .

Jade laughed at him but he didn't care. It was normal. Dad always woke him up early when he was home from work.

And Ron didn't mind, because early mornings meant one thing. One thing that he loved more than sleep or food.

Flying.


	12. rules for flying

**Sorry I didn't update yesterday but there's a lot of stuff going on at school – exams at the end of the year I have to pass. University isn't fun (not all the time). So I won 't have time to update every day now, but I'll try every second day. Please be patient.**

**Thank you, for all the reviews and for reading. You're awesome!**

**and sorry for all the typos/mistakes etc. I really don't have time to re-read the chapters these days - I promise I'll do it one day and correct everything.**

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><p>After breakfast everyone got an order to use the bathroom and put on their sun hats. Molly packed big basket full of apples and water bottles and set it on the kitchen counter.<p>

Arthur came back wearing old jeans and simple white polo, he kissed Molly and took the basket.

"Hey everyone! We're leaving!" he shouted so loudly that owls flew down from the roof.

Molly playfully smacked him with the dishtowel she was holding.

Arthur just winked at her and caught Ron who almost fell down the stairs as he was trying to put on his tee and fasten his belt at the same time.

Ginny and Jade came down after him.

Arthur unlocked the broom shed which was packed with all the family brooms.

He handed out Ron's broom which was actually Charlie's old one and Ginny's which belonged to Percy but he hardly ever used it. Arthur took his broom and put it behind the door and kept looking for some broom which would be good for Jade.

There wasn't much left. Twins had their brooms at school and all that was inside was Molly's ancient broom from times when she was still at school and Bill's…hmmm he had forgotten about Bill's old broom, it was in pretty good shape, old, that is true, but Bill always took good care of his things.

Arthur handed it to Jade, who took it hesitantly.

"Let's go everyone, we still have 5 hours until the lunch's ready!" said Arthur, picking up the basket full of snacks and hanging it at the end of his broom which was balancing on his right shoulder. He took a box full of some odd balls, Jade has never seen and started to walk in the direction of the hill.

Ron followed him immediately, almost running with excitement. Ginny seemed to be happy with their plan because she took her broom, swung it over her shoulders and went up the path.

Jade looked at them, still unsure about what to think, but then she simply smiled and ran fast to catch up with Ginny, who started to pick the flowers alongside the road.

They went around the hill and stopped in the middle of small valley, where the quidditch pitch was. They had tall posts with old baskets without bottoms and even one spare tire from some bicycle - tied to the tops a line made of small pink pebbles showing the borders of the playground.

"Dad?" Ron asked smiling so wide that Jade thought he's gonna hurt his face if he kept up with that.

"Sure. Off you go!" called Arthur already knowing what Ron wanted to do.

Ron threw his leg over the broom and kicked himself up from the ground.

Ginny followed him, only flying a tiny bit slower and not nearly as high as her Brother.

"Ron! Remember there might be some muggles in the village – fly lower ok?" reminded him his dad and Ron sadly flew lower, quickly poking Ginny to her shoulder.

"Tag! You're it!" he yelled and speeded up, his sister chasing after him.

" quit it you two! No pushing and chasing!" scolded their dad and kids slowed down taking few rounds around the field.

Arthur turned to Jade.

"Ok, there are few rules you need to know before I let you fly.

First, no flying higher than the treetops – we don't want anyone from the village to see us, there might be some strangers visiting and they might be muggles.

Second, no flying on your own, always have AT LEAST one more person with you and NEVER EVER go flying without telling me or mom first, understood?"

Jade nodded. She wasn't even sure she wanted to fly, it looked so unreal, and she was absolutely sure it would take years of practice for her to feel comfortable enough on the broom – to actually want to fly higher than a couple of feet above the ground.

Arthur continued:

"There's a rule in our family that we don't take each others broom without asking first. This will be yours for now.

Also, no pulling, pushing, poking and absolutely no chasing in the air."

Jade nodded again, looking at Ron who was now flying up and down in a zig-zag pattern and Ginny followed him exactly as if they both saw some kind of path in the air.

Jade was a little bit jealous looking at them. She wondered how long they were doing this. Or course there were moments when she saw they weren't 100% sure about what they were doing, a little stumbling here and there – if it is possible to stumble in the air. Also, both of them had really concentrated looks on their faces and were holding the brooms with all the force they had.

"Ok, come on, swing your right leg over the broom." Ordered Arthur and Jade did it, holding the old broom with all she had.

"Now, push yourself off the ground softly, and just hold the broom straight and then come back down." He said, and Jade did it. Easily, no sweat, no panic, she didn't even feel frightened at all.

She felt free. Like when she climbed trees and no one could reach her because she was high and nobody wanted to climb there. Like she had her own world.

Flying came naturally to her, she even loosened her grip on the broom.

"Great!" complimented Arthur. "That was easier that I thought it would be for you!

Ok, try again, and you can fly a little bit higher, let's say, over my head, ok? No higher. And come back when you'll be ready." He smiled as she rushed away, picking up some speed.

He saw her flying easily, without really trying, but it wasn't the elegant kind of flight that Ginny had.

Jade seemed free and wild, like there was no stopping her, even while flying low and slower than she could, she seemed happy, laughing all the way around the playground.

She stopped by Arthur and jumped off the broom and ran to him with wide smile on her face and broom in one hand.

Jade hugged him without even thinking what she was doing and why she did it.

She just felt so happy for doing something she didn't have to learn, and something she could share with her new friends.

When she realized Arthur was patting her back and laughing with her she looked shyly up at him and asked: "can I fly with Ron and Ginny now?"

"Well, I don't see why you couldn't. Just don't go higher that you feel comfortable going ok? You have lots of time to learn all the moves and tricks, I don't want you falling from the broom the first day you learned how to fly. Alright? Molly would kill me!" he laughed and let go of Jade's shoulder he was still holding.

She jumped on the broom, her right food didn't even touch the ground, she was already in the air.

Arthur saw twins do that. Right, Fred and George did that every time he took them flying, too eager to fly. Jade reminded him about his sons in many ways but her flying was the most obvious trait his three kids shared.

His three kids… Arthur smiled to himself. It was so easy to take Jade in. It seemed like she was there since always. He already loved her and cared for her the same way he did for all his children. He was in his "daddy mode" like Bill called it.

He watched the kids fly behind each other, zigzagging around the field, sometimes so low, their sneakers touched the tops of overgrown grass, and sometimes almost as high as the trees surrounding them. Thankfully there were several big old pines growing in the valley so passing-by people couldn't see them.

He smiled when Ron picked up more speed and Jade did the same, as if she was flying for years.

Then it happened, Ron made a quick turn, almost too quick for himself, his face sweating with concentration, Arthur was sure Jade would make it too, maybe with less problems than his son, but Ginny wasn't that skilled yet. Her hands slipped from the broom and the centrifugal force of their turn pulled her out from her broom, which stopped suddenly after making a 90 degrees turn.

No one really knew what happened next.

They were too close to the ground, Arthur didn't even have time to take out his wand and slow the fall.

Jade didn't make the turn after all, she didn't stop either, instead, she lowered her broom, flying under the handle of Ginny's old Comet and (Arthur was sure about this) continued, falling to the ground after Ginny. In the last second Jade caught Ginny around her waist pulling her up, missing the floor by inches.

Ron had no time to realize what was going on, only when he saw his father standing there in absolute shock for a blink of an eye, he turned over and saw two girls landing in the high grass. They both fell on their knees and Arthur was by their side instantly.

No one knew what happened and what will happen next. The only certain thing was that Molly was going to kill them all (after making sure everyone was fine – of course).

"Dear Merlin! Are you ok girls?" asked panicked Arthur. No one answered.

Jade was hugging Ginny around her waist.

The youngest Weasley was crying, silent tears falling down her cheeks down oh the tan hand which was still holding her.

Jade couldn't let go, she couldn't speak, she was too terrified. Was she fast enough? Did she catch Ginny on time? What happened?

Arthur slowly loosened her grip, but it took a lot of force from his part.

Ginny instantly jumped into his arms and cried and cried.

Ron came running, pale, almost green and hugged his sister, taking her from Arthur's arms as he handed her over to her brother, wanting to check his other daughter.

Jade was sitting there, in the tall grass, hugging her knees. There was blood on her right palm and when Arthur took her right arm to examine it, he saw a deep cut – almost like a burn – all the way from her thumb to the wrist. She burned her hand, probably by holding to the broom so hard.

"It's ok, honey. Everyone is fine, and we will fix your hand in no time ok? Don't worry, I will make the pain go away and mom will cure it quick when we get home.

Jade looked up at him and blinked a couple of times, then looked down on her palm. She didn't know there was something wrong until Arthur mentioned it. Oddly, it didn't hurt, she didn't feel her hand at all.

Then she looked up at Ron who was still holding Ginny. Then she started to look around as if she was looking for something. She didn't really know where she was, what happened, why was everyone staring at her. She didn't really hear them, but she knew they were talking. Telling her something, something important. She knew she wanted to ask something, but couldn't remember what it was she blinked again.

Arthur picked her up from the ground and carried her, cuddled to his chest like a baby, whispering into her hair.

"It's fine baby girl, everything is fine. You saved Ginny, you did it. You saved your little sister. Everything will be fine, I'll take care of you. Don't worry baby girl."

Arthur saw Ron picking up all their brooms and holding Ginny's hair, who calmed down a little and was asking about Jade now. But he didn't stop to answer her questions and Ron didn't ask anything just pulled Ginny behind him.

And Arthur kept whispering sweet nothings to his little brave girl he was carrying in his arms, and he didn't realize there were tears falling from his eyes, down to Jade's short brown hair, making it wet and almost black at places.

"You will be fine, you will be alright." He repeated over and over, more for himself than for her.

And Jade just held still and let him carry her, wherever they were going, she couldn't tell who he was and why was he telling her she will be fine when there was nothing wrong with her, but she started to feel really sleepy and finally closed her eyes.

She trusted him when he said it will be fine.


	13. sandwiches for dinner

Jade woke up when someone put her down on the couch.

She sat up and looked around her. There was Molly looking down at her, right, she was probably at the Burrow.

And Mr. Weasley was there too.

Oh, if her head would stop spinning! She had to concentrate.

She was sure there was something she wanted to know, something really important, but all was so confusing. She started to shake really bad and felt cold. Molly gave her a cup of tea and hugged her tightly against her side.

"Shhh, everything's fine. Look, I fixed your hand, don't worry honey." Molly tried to reassure her.

"Wh…What happened?" choked Jade.

"Oh, honey, you just saved Ginny! She fell down from the broom and you saved her! She wasn't too high, but she could have broken some bones if you weren't there." Almost whispered Molly.

Right, Ginny. Is she ok? That was the important thing Jade had to find out. She turned around looking straight into Ginny's scared eyes.

"Are you ok?" asked Jade, still in shock.

Ginny just nodded and smiled shyly, before running around the couch and hugging her sister, exclaiming: "Oh J. I was so scared! You saved me, but then you looked really sick and daddy had to carry you back home. I was so scared!" she repeated and Jade just hugged her tighter, laughing, when she realized everything was fine. She started to cry again, but this time they were happy tears and she was laughing at the same time.

After the girls calmed down, Jade turned to Arthur and thanked him for taking her back here.

"And is Ron alright?" she asked, she didn't see him when she woke up. He waved at her from the back door, "Yeah, I'm fine. What about you?" he asked seriously, rising his eyebrows.

"Good." She replied.

"And what about the broom? Didn't I wreck it, or something?" she asked, suddenly scared. What if she did something bad. Brooms were apparently expensive and she didn't want to give Weasleys any reason to send her away. Not now, when she was starting to like them.

"Oh, darling, don't worry about the broom, nobody cares if it's alright or not. We were scared you hurt yourself, and now we know everything's fine, you can't imagine how happy I feel for having you safe and sound, sitting here at home!" exclaimed Arthur, kneeling down in front of Jade. When she kept looking at him with questioning eyes he added: "Your broom is fine, not a single scratch."

She smiled and leaned back, resting her head on the quilt covering living-room couch.

"If you don't mind, I would go and get a nap. I feel pretty dizzy." She murmured and closed her eyes.

"Of course we don't mind, sweetheart." whispered Arthur.

Molly shook her head." I think she's still in shock, we should let her rest for a while. I don't think she slept very well last night and now all the stress." Molly shook her head again.

Arthur picked Jade up – she was already asleep and he carried her up to her room, where she hugged the pillow with Fred's old pillowcase with patch and all, close to her and fell asleep again, having no time to realize someone just moved her upstairs.

She didn't sleep for two nights now and all the excitement and fear and flying wore her out.

Molly placed a cup of chamomile tea on her bedside table and charmed it – so it would stay warm all the time.

They left Jade's room and closed the door. Kids were going to make lots of noise and they didn't want to wake Jade sooner than she was ready.

Ron and Ginny were waiting for their parents in the kitchen.

"What's wrong with her? Will she be alright? Can I see her now?" questions echoed from all sides.

"She'll be just fine, she just needs some rest. No you can't see her now, because she's sleeping and don't you dare making any noise upstairs!" said Molly angrily.

"Now, young man, we have to talk!" she looked at Ron with the wildest stare anyone has ever seen on her face.

"What was that flying? With your sisters behind you, trying tricks like that? Dad told me you almost fell too! Are you insane Ronald Weasley? Answer me! Are you insane?" now Molly almost-yelled at her son.

Ron didn't answer though. Not because he didn't want to obey his mother, but because he couldn't make himself open his mouth. His face was completely green and he looked like he was going to cry.

Of course he didn't mean to put his sisters in danger, he didn't even want to turn that fast on his broom, it just happened. A tear spilled from his left eye and fell down his cheek and stopped on his trembling chin.

And suddenly Molly saw her baby boy standing there, in her kitchen, crying because world was mean to him, because someone did him wrong and she realized he is, after all, still just a little boy.

"Oh come here!" she called him and hugged him so hard, wishing she would never have to let go.

"Ok, we'll let it be for now, but next time, no more stunts on the broom! Understood?" she asked and Ron smiled through his tears and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"Ginny, you're ok? Nothing hurts? No? And the same for you young lady! No more chasing your brother while you fly! I want no broken bones this summer! At least until your brothers come back from school. Merlin knows it will be inevitable to heal broken legs and arms with Fred and George around." She added more to herself than to Ginny.

"Ok, you two. Go to your rooms, and think about why it is important to act responsible while you fly. No more playing outside and no more flying for next week! You may come out of your rooms when the dinner's ready." Said Molly seriously and let her kids go.

Now it was Arthur's turn.

Molly yelled at him for two hours. (of course they went out to the greenhouse, so that kids wouldn't hear them) Molly picked tomatoes and cucumbers and radishes for dinner and yelled and yelled at Arthur, how irresponsible he was, how dangerous all the flying was for girls and how she didn't want to let them fly until they were older but how Arthur convinced her, and now this is what she gets, for being crazy enough and listening to him. She yelled about everything in general, because she was so angry and scared and relieved everyone was fine – at the same time. At the end she broke up, crying on his shoulder, and even though Arthur wasn't as green as Ron, when Molly got angry with him, his color was pretty close.

They had sandwiches with cheese and cold ham, with fresh salad for dinner.

After two hours long angry monologue in the greenhouse, Molly didn't feel like cooking and she didn't have much time either.

Jade slept through the dinner, and the desert later, she didn't wake up for the cup of hot cocoa before bed which kids always had on the porch with daddy when he had a day off from work, actually she slept through the night and didn't wake up until lunch the following day.


	14. chalkboard wall

**I'm so sorry everyone! I know I promised to keep updating often but this last week was incredibly crazy.**

**Here's new chapter. I hope you'll like it. I'm thinking about skipping few days in the next chapter and start writing about real vacation – can't wait for the boys to be home from Hogwarts…or maybe not…let me know what you think. Read and Review!**

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><p>Jade woke up and found a cup of apple tea, steaming on her bed-side table.<p>

Molly came up to check on her every two hours and always changed the tea. There was no need to do it as magic was keeping the mug hot and tea fresh, but Molly was a mother to 8 children now and she couldn't resist taking care of her little ones.

Jade pulled on the cut-off jean shorts, but her t-shirt was gone, so she had to take another one from the drawer.

She carefully folded the nightshirt she was wearing before and put it under her pillow.

She didn't bother with sneakers or socks. It was already hot and when she opened her window, hot summer air hit her face.

She could hear Ron and Ginny arguing over something in the garden.

After taking a sip of the tea and finger-combing through her hair, Jade went downstairs to meet Mrs. Weasley busy, setting plates on the kitchen table.

When Molly saw her newest daughter come down with empty cup in hand standing on the last stair smiling shyly, she set down the pile of plates and rushed over to her.

"Oh hello darling, how do you feel? What about your hand?" she reached down for Jade's hand and quickly checked her palm. It was completely healed now, and the only reminder about the accident was a thin pink line, which will fade soon.

"Good, I'm sorry for being such trouble yesterday, I didn't mean to fall asleep and all, I was just really scared and it made me quite sick." Jade was rambling. "Can I help you with something now?"

"No, it's ok dear, the lunch will be ready soon, I just wanted to finish fruit salad for desert, so if you could go out and help kids pick some more strawberries, it would be great." Molly smiled and watched as Jade pulled a pair of old wellies on her bare feet.

Jade skipped the two stairs leading from the back door to the kitchen and when she turned around the corner to join her friends in the strawberry patch, she was greeted by a bear hug from Ginny and huge smile from Ron who was sitting on the ground with a bowl full of big red strawberries and one half eaten in his hand.

"I was so worried about you!" exclaimed Ginny, still holding her sister around the neck. "But mom said you will be fine so I believed her. Thank you for catching me when I …" tears started to glitter in Ginny's eyes as she remembered that scary day of the accident.

Jade, seeing how upset Ginny was, changed the subject quickly. "Your mom sent me to help you with the strawberries and tell you lunch will be ready soon." She said and slid down on the ground next to Ron, crossing legs in front of her.

Ginny happily joined them and they spent next five minutes picking strawberries within their reach, while Ron stuffed every second one to his mouth.

Girls just giggled at them and after a while Ginny persuaded Jade that mom wouldn't be angry if she tasted some before lunch. Jade who didn't eat anything for almost two days gave up and picked one little red berry for herself.

They were delicious, sweet and juicy, and there were miles of strawberry plants growing everywhere you could see, mixing with pumpkin at the edges and some carrots and celery planted in neat rows under the windows.

Molly called them from the window letting them know the lunch was ready.

When they came in, Ron running – to be there first and Jade carrying the bowl – heavy with all the fruit in it, there were already plates with roasted potatoes and sautéed zucchini on the table. Everyone got half of fresh avocado which little Luna Lovegood brought over yesterday. Molly couldn't understand the strange choices of the exotic trees that family was growing around their house, but she was a good friend with Luna's parents and little Luna was the only girl around to play with so Ginny grew up with her being best friends.

While kids started to eat, Molly cleaned the strawberries and added them to the bowl with small pieces of apples and peaches, mixing all together, so that the juice from all the fruit would combine.

It was nice summer lunch, full of good things and Molly always tried to make her kids eat healthy.

After finishing their meal and drinking at least two glasses of cooled pumpkin juice each, Jade took all the plates to the sink. Ron and Ginny thanked her (after a meaningful stare from their mother) and Molly added her thanks too, telling Jade that she didn't have to do that, because today it was Ron's turn to do the dishes.

Ron still had some extra chores added to his usual ones – as a punishment for being so careless while flying.

Ginny cuddled on the loveseat which was standing by the wall between kitchen and living-room. It was simple piece of furniture, with red covers and one big fluffy pillow with paisley violet and yellow pillow-case.

It was still too hot outside to get back there and maybe explore the surroundings, so Jade stopped on her way from the table, not really knowing what she was going to do.

"Maybe you could relax for a while and catch up with your reading?" suggested Molly, and Jade agreed. She enjoyed the small book about magical creatures, and she already lost two days worth of reading.

She came to her room and quickly changed her tee, putting on a white tank top because it was getting even hotter, and grabbed the little book which was laying on her desk.

When she entered the kitchen Molly silently turned to her with a finger on her lips, looking over to sleeping Ginny who curled around the pillow in the corner of red loveseat.

Jade smiled and quietly walked over to Ginny and sat down to the opposite corner, opening the book where she stopped reading before. There were only few chapters left and Jade was almost disappointed with that fact. She loved the book too much for it to end this soon.

…

Jade put the book down next to her, after reading the last page. What would she do now? She looked around herself, trying to find something to do.

The wall behind the loveseat was painted black with some sort of black-board paint and there were chalk finger-prints and some little crosswords written in wobbly hand-writing – obviously Ron and Ginny amused themselves by scribbling all over the wall.

Molly looked up from the kitchen counter – where she was cleaning the rest of strawberries, getting them ready for jam – because they almost ran out of the last year ones.

"You want to do something else than reading?" asked Molly.

"I've already finished the book" whispered Jade, not wanting to wake Ginny up.

"You don't have to be quiet anymore" smiled Molly "once Ginny falls asleep it's almost impossible to wake her up."

Jade smiled, she wished she could sleep that well. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, not right now, but if you want to , you could clean the black-board wall, it's really messy and I have always too many things to clean and so I forget to wash it."

"Sure! That will be fun!" agreed Jade. She always liked washing black-boards at school. IT was quiet little job, which provided her with some time to think, plus no one bothered her, because all the kids usually ran out for the recess.

She grabbed the yellow sponge from the box full of white chalk, standing on the floor.

It was satisfying to see how the dusty wall turned into nice clean black space.

Molly came to check on her after five minutes and stared in awe at the clean wall in front of her. Ron and Ginny, usually erased it all without rinsing the sponge and it always had smudges all over it, but now it was as good as new.

"Why don't you get a chalk and write something nice there?" suggested Molly.

"Really?" Jade couldn't believe she could do that. "What should I write?" she asked in disbelief.

"Anything you want honey. You can draw a picture, or write something if you want. Just have fun with it." Said smiling Molly and went back to cleaning strawberries.

Jade picked one little sharp piece of chalk and stared at the wall, deciding what should be written on it.

She felt proud of herself, that Molly trusted her enough to let her write over her kitchen wall. She wanted to pick something nice, to decorate the kitchen and maybe earn her some more praise from Molly.

After another minute of thinking, she stepped on the loveseat and started to write.

When Molly finished preparing the fruit and the red sweetness was now slowly cooking in one big pot, she turned around to see what Jade decided to write on the wall.

There wasn't much, just one simple quote, written in white chalk, big enough to be readable from across the room, but not too big to look humble. Jade's handwriting was beautiful, she made sure to shape every letter carefully, and she wrote:

"There is no surprise more magical, than the surprise of being loved."

Charles Morgan


	15. in the garden

Molly threw the dishcloth she was holding on the chair and quickly crossed the room to scoop Jade into her arms in a big breath-taking hug.

"Oh dear, it's such a beautiful quote!" she told her daughter and Jade smiled wide, obviously proud of herself.

Then Molly looked her into the eyes and whispered, more serious than Jade has ever seen her:

"I love you so much Jade, more than you can imagine. We all love you, and we're so happy to have you as a part of this family."

And those simple words whispered in confidence, made their way to Jade's heart and she was starting to believe Molly, she was starting to believe she could actually stay in this family forever. Jade's eyes filled with tears. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like crying. Suddenly she had someone to care for her, someone who would take all her worries and let her be a little child again. And it felt so good to rely on someone but at the same time it was a scary feeling for little girl who took care of herself since she could remember.

Molly sat down on the couch holding Jade in her lap like she held all her kids when they were babies. It didn't matter that Jade was too big to fit there comfortably, her legs too long, and herself much heavies than little baby. But Molly didn't show any discomfort; she held her daughter and let Jade rest her tear-stained face in the crook of her neck. It was the first time Jade let anyone hold her like this.

After a while when Jade calmed down, Molly wiped her face with a clean handkerchief and stood up, giving Jade one more hug, to make sure everything was fine.

Jade smiled at her with an apologetic smile, suddenly feeling shy, standing in front of this stranger who acted like mom to her, but whom she didn't really know.

Molly broke the silence by pointing on the clock on the wall which showed that Arthur was on the way home.

It was only 2 p.m. but he took an afternoon off from work.

Few seconds after that, the backdoor opened and Arthur walked in carrying his briefcase and big box neatly wrapped in brown paper.

After kissing his wife on the cheek he set everything down and hugged Jade, spinning her in the air.

"It's good to see you awake, how are you feeling honey?" he asked, checking Jade's palm.

"Good." She answered, still a little bit shaky and red-eyed from crying recently.

Arthur noticed, but didn't say anything, he will ask Molly later, plus, he was sure it was nothing serious, so why should he upset her by asking.

"Good? Ok then, I have a little project for us to do, if you want to help me." He smiled at her.

"What is it Arthur?" asked Molly cautiously.

"Don't worry sweetheart, we will clean everything when we finish" He winked at Molly and then excused himself, going upstairs to change from his work clothes.

"Jade, could you go upstairs and call Ron, maybe he'd like to help with the project too." Suggested Molly, shaking her head and already thinking about all the crazy things her husband could possibly came up with.

Jade run to Ron's room, taking two stairs at the time, excited to see what the project will be, although she didn't care about the project itself, she was happy to spend some time with Arthur in general, he always had lots of fun things planned for them, like flying and such.

When she reached Ron's door, she knocked two times and then opened it slowly, only to find Ron, sleeping on his bed, with face covered in chocolate and drooling on his pillow.

Now what? Should she wake him up or let him sleep? She was sure he'd want to spend time with his dad, but at the same time, Molly seemed happy when her kids took naps and she never woke them up, unless it was time to eat.

Arthur who appeared behind Jade and reached over her shoulder to close Ron's door solved the dilemma.

"Let him sleep, he will wake up soon and he can join us later. Ron's not very enjoyable company after someone wakes him up from his nap." Arthur chuckled and went back downstairs to the kitchen.

Molly had two bottles of ice-cold ginger ale ready for them and a box of chocolate chip cookies as a snack.

Arthur put on his sun hat and Jade's nose and shoulders were coated with the sun block potion again, before Molly let her go outside.

Jade didn't bother with shoes this time, the garden was dry from the sun and there was no more mud from the morning watering.

Arthur was already coming out from his garage carrying a toolbox and the big parcel he brought from work. He handed Jade a long piece of rope, and some metal rings.

They carried everything to the trees in the back of the garden, where they had a grill and an old picnic table.

There was also a little tree house, just a couple of old planks on the lower branches of an old maple tree.

They didn't talk much because it was still too hot outside and they enjoyed the silence and the shade from the tree.

It was a hammock, made out of brightly colored fabric, wide enough to hold two persons. Jade was helping Arthur fasten the rope to the end of the fabric when Ron came out from the back door, still half asleep with pink cheeks and messy hair, carrying a chocolate cookie in one hand and a cup of cold raw milk in another.

"Hi daddy! What'ya doing?" asked Ron, jumping on the back of his father, hugging him around the neck and spilling some of the milk on Arthur's tee.

"Hey buddy, easy with the milk, I don't need any more stains on this t-shirt!" smiled Arthur and then explained his plan about having a hammock in the garden so kids could play there and maybe they could even have a BBQ later this week.

Ron looked excited but Jade didn't know if she liked the idea.

All the barbeques she's been to, were formal evenings with lots of strangers, usually held in gardens with nicely trimmed bushes and grass which was only for looking, not for stepping on it, everyone always expected her to behave well, and wear a dress, and one time even a bow in her hair. There was ridiculous food which she didn't know, and drinks which were only for adults, swimming pools where you couldn't swim and million of rules you had to follow.

Nobody noticed her lack of enthusiasm and they finished the rest of the hammock in good mood, and a little help from Ginny who finally woke up and joined them.

The kids then piled into the hammock and were rocking back and forth while Arthur relaxed, snoozing under the tree. They were interrupted by Molly who ordered everyone a bath, or at least good long shower before dinner, rushing them upstairs to get clean after a hot sweaty day.


	16. letter from Charlie

Jade woke up the next morning. Well, woke up, would be an exaggeration, she hardly slept all night. She always had trouble sleeping in new homes and although she liked it in the Burrow, she couldn't help herself and worry a little.

She also used to have terrible nightmares and she didn't want to risk waking up the whole house and being send away like it happened lots of times.

So she didn't sleep for a couple of nights and then when she finally fell asleep – almost unconscious, she was too tired to have any dreams at all.

It worked so far and Jade was being careful to keep it that way.

She hopped down the stairs at the usual time, knowing Ginny will be up soon and Ron will join them too, because today was Friday and that meant they were having a BBQ tonight!

It also meant Molly will probably send them to the village to buy something and also they will go to Luna's house and invite her for dinner.

Jade didn't know who Luna was, but she liked her name and Ginny told her Luna is her best friend.

It was going to be pretty exciting day.

When she entered kitchen, there was only Molly, taking out the bread from the oven and she looked pretty surprised to see Jade up this soon, but jumped right into the role of mom ready for everything.

"Would you like some breakfast? Here, you can have a cup of cocoa, the porridge will be ready soon. Did you sleep well?" asked Molly.

"Thank you." Jade thanked for the cocoa but ignored the last question about sleeping.

She didn't sleep well, because she didn't feel 100% sure about her new home, but she didn't want to lie.

Molly was about to ask again but she was interrupted by a knock on the window. There was big gray own, patiently waiting for someone to open the window.

They've never seen it before at the Burrow so Molly was pretty sure it was an owl from Hogwarts, clearly twins have exploded some toilets again or something.

Molly didn't want to bother with it right now, she was looking forward to nice calm breakfast, but she also knew, the sooner she finds out what Fred and George have done, the sooner she will deal with it and the sooner she can calm down and enjoy the rest of the day.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the window and reached out for the letters the owl carried, but the bird gracefully flew across the room and landed on Jade's shoulder, offering her it's right leg where it had tied a pretty long roll of parchment.

Startled Jade took the letter and patted the head of the owl, careful not to touch owl's beak or poke it's eye.

The bird than looked around the kitchen, but it didn't find the one it was looking for, because it dropped the second letter on the table and left through the window, disappearing on the horizon where the sun was rising.

It was a letter. Clearly addressed to her. A letter for Jade.

Molly knew right away it was from Charlie, she knew her son's handwriting, so she turned around, closed the window and proceeded to finish the breakfast.

Jade just sat there not sure about what to do. She wanted to read it so badly, right there right now, but at the same time she'd like to have some privacy. It was the first letter from her brother and it was all written just for her. Would it be too rude to go back to her room or should she just read it in the kitchen?

Molly solved the dilemma when she suggested:

"you should finish breakfast first, and then you can take the letter up to your room, that way you won't have anyone reading over your shoulder – Ginny can be really annoying that way."

Jade nodded and smiled to her bowl of porridge. She didn't add sugar or marmalade today, she didn't have time for this- there was one important letter to read, patiently waiting in front of very impatient Jade.

She put the bowl and spoon into the sink, grabbed her letter and smiled at Molly, before turning around and sprinting up the stairs, almost knocking over Ginny who were just getting down for breakfast.

She closed the door carefully and ran to her bed. She opened the window, letting in the fresh morning air, before it will be too hot from the sun.

Sitting down on her bed, she unrolled the parchment and started to read…

_Dearest Jade,_

_At first I want to welcome you to our family. We're a bunch of crazy people, each with different kind of craziness but all together it somehow works well and we live happy and at least NOT boring lives. _

_Don't worry; I have a feeling that you will fit in quite well._

_Does dad follow you around asking all sorts of questions about muggles? If he didn't do that yet, it's only because mom told him to leave you alone, but just wait until boys come home from school – they'll keep mom busy and I'm sure dad will start his questioning. Don't you worry, he's really quite harmless._

_I have to thank you for the lovely letter you wrote – it was FAR FROM BORING! I enjoyed every word! It was welcomed change from Ron's short letters which are basically lists of all the meals mom made during last week._

_Don't get me wrong, I love Ron's letters, but they always make me so hungry (the food here can't be compared to mom's cuisine)_

_/Ron – if you're reading this, I really do like your letters, they keep me going every week – but QUIT READING OVER JADE'S SHOULDER – the same goes for you Ginny! And Mom, stop worrying, I'm not starving to death here, they feed me well./_

_Now, back to the topic._

_You've asked about our family, well, all I can say is that you'll see yourself when you meet them, the only advice I'll give you is – never ever accept any food the twins offer you – I'm sure mom already warned you about them._

_I will come home in two weeks – couple of days before boys come back from Hogwarts, so we will meet soon! Please tell mom I'll be coming, she likes to know beforehand so she could prepare everything, but also tell her not to stress herself too much._

_I'm sending you a dragon scale from one little dragon we have here, it's a newly discovered kind from Central Kenya, well, at least it's new for us, but the local people knew it for a long time. They call it_Kereng'ende_ which means dragonfly in Swahili and we've decided to keep that name because it suits the dragon well._

_The scale it transparent but it changes color with the mood of the dragon, that's why it's so easy to work with this kind – you always see what they're thinking. I will bring home some photographs but they aren't developed yet so you'll have to wait._

_Also, the scale changes color with the mood of the person who keeps it close. It will take it some time to accommodate to you, but after two weeks it should be pretty stable and it will show only your mood, no matter how far away from you it is! Pretty cool huh? Just keep it close to you – maybe in a pocket of your shirt, close to your heart and then you'll never be confused about your feelings again._

_The one dragon we have here lost a couple of scales during the transport, which is pretty rare, so keep an eye on it._

_I've sent one to Ron too and I'll bring one for Ginny and the twins too but they'll have to wait. You can tell Ginny – if she wants it sooner she'll have to write me a letter too (and that dear sis is not a blackmail – it's just that I do love letters and sometimes I get pretty lonely here so a brother has to do what he has to do )_

_I have to go now, another lecture on care for the new dragon will start in few minutes. I'm sorry I had to keep this letter so short but things are pretty crazy around here, now when half of us is getting ready for vacation._

_Take care sis and please write again soon._

_With love, your (awesome) brother Charlie_


	17. Luna's house

**Hi everyone – just a quick note: I've changed Jade's age a little bit…I'm sorry, I messed up- she is 10, will be 11 soon. I hope you're ok with that. I didn't realize it was wrong until I made a plan for my future chapters and then found out…eeek, sorry.**

**Thank you for your reviews**

**MeggyMooMoo**** – twins arefinishing their first year now (will start second in September)…I'm glad you liked Charlie's letter.**

**Hailey1986**** – Jade is a year older than Ron Harry and Hermione – I'm sorry, I know it was confusing,…so she's a year older than Ron and almost one year younger than Twins. (and I never ever even thought about Jade dating Ron or Harry OR Draco, even if she was the same age like them)**

**..ok, everyone, thanks for reading and reviewing…here's another chapter…**

Jade folded the letter and put it on the desk in her room, before returning to the kitchen.

Ginny was finishing her breakfast and although Ron still had half of his porridge, with his pace of eating he was likely going to finish first.

Molly was already sorting cherries for her famous cherry galette which she wanted to prepare for the evening.

"Ahem…" started Jade. She wasn't used to call Molly "Molly" yet. It seemed strange when everyone called her Mom, but she wasn't comfortable calling het _that_ right now.

"Ahem… Charlie says he will come home in two weeks, couple of days before the school's over." She announced and sat down on the chair next to Ginny, pulling the dragon scale from the pocket of her shorts.

"He also sent me this." She put the scale down on the table in front of her glass of pumpkin juice which Molly made appear.

"Cool!" exclaimed Ginny trying to grab it to look at it closer but Jade was faster. She held the scale close to her heart and whispered that Charlie told her she has to keep it close to herself for the first two weeks and then it will change colors according to her mood.

"Cool!" exclaimed Ginny again. "I want one too!"

"Well, Charlie says he'll bring you one when he comes home, or if you'll write him a letter now, then he'll send it to you. He sent one for Ron too."

Ron who was

Gulping down second banana (after he finished his porridge and toast) looked up at Jade, a little bit surprised and reached for his letter which was waiting in front of him.

Charlie was saying the truth, Ron too, had a big dragon scale in his letter and he examined it closely, before putting it inside his pocket and reading his letter.

Ginny sat there pouting a little, before Molly suggested she goes upstairs and changes from her PJs, because they'll have to go over to Luna's house and invite her family for the BBQ.

Ginny instantly forgot about the injustice and slight blackmail from her older brother and run upstairs to put on her pink tank top and light pink skirt. Together with her bright red hair and orange flip-flops it looked ridiculous but Ginny liked pink and Molly always let her choose her own clothes (as long as they were clean and appropriate for the occasion).

Soon everyone was ready, only waiting for Ron who was sent back upstairs to change his shirt, because he put on the same as yesterday, which had a big stain from spilled cocoa.

Molly packed three bottles of ginger ale into the smallest backpack they had at home and give it to Ron to carry it.

They went up the hill, following the narrowest path of the three (one leading to their Quidditch patch , one to Lovegood's house and one to the village).

They could see for miles in every direction from the top of the hill. Long fields of overgrown grass, thick dark green bushes and forests. They saw a big lake in the distance but it was too far away to go there for a one day trip.

They continued their journey, down the hill and then up again, and the final part of the path was tremendously long march across the field filled with wild raspberries and squash growing here and there. Finally they reached the alley of avocado and mango trees, with long thick branches (perfect for climbing as Jade, the experienced tree climber, noticed).

It was nice and cold in the shade of the trees but they soon came to the front step of a high tower which Ginny identified like Luna's house.

There was a tree, or more like an overgrown bush on the left, with a big bright sign "keep off the dirigible plums", and on the right was an ordinary plum tree, with tall dark blue ladder and a tiny blond girl with basket full of deep purple plums on top of it.

"Hey Luna!" called Ginny. "We came over to invite you and your parents for the BBQ at our house tonight. You think you can come?"

"I'm not quite sure. Daddy wanted to take me see a new baby troll who lives in the forest two hours from here, but tonight will be clear night with no storms, not even a little rain so I don't think we will go see the troll." Said Luna dreamily. She spoke quietly but her voice was like a bell and you could hear as it carried all around the garden.

"You'll have to go and ask mommy, she's in the kitchen, we're making a plum ice cream today." Continued Luna. Then she turned around and continued picking plums.

"You're not coming with us?" asked confused Ron.

"Oh no, I will finish picking the plums first, then I will join you. Don't worry, mommy doesn't bite." Said Luna seriously and continued her little job.

Ginny just smiled, it was Luna's typical answer. She always finished what she was doing, no rush.

They entered small kitchen with round walls and a staircase in the middle.

There was a tall blond woman, peeling plums and mixing them with cream and brown sugar. She put the knife down and turned around to welcome her visitors.

"Oh hello Ginny, dear. And Ron! What a pleasant surprise, I didn't see you for a long time. And who is your little friend? She must be a Weasley judging by her dirty feet and beautiful friendly smile. Am I right?" asked Luna's mom.

"Yeah, this is Jade, our sister." Introduced her Ginny and Mrs. Lovegood didn't ask any more questions.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Jade. Kids, I'm sorry, the ice cream isn't quite ready yet, but can I offer you something else? We have nice apple juice, fresh from yesterday, would that be alright?" The three of them nodded in unison and Mrs. Lovegood lead them outside under the sun shade, which were two large, richly embodied scarves, stretched on strings from the side of the house, and supported by two tall sticks on the other end.

They sat down on little pillows which were on the floor (covered by ancient Persian rug) and Luna joined them, kissing her mom on the cheek and giving her a basket full of plums. Mrs. Lovegood then passed each of them tall glass full of ice-cold apple juice and a tray with anis biscuits.

"Mrs. Lovegood, we wanted to ask if you will come to our BBQ tonight? It will start at…around five, but you can come sooner or later – like always." Said Ginny, looking up, waiting for an answer.

"What a lovely idea! Of course dear, we will be happy to come, and I'm sure the ice cream will be ready by then, so we can bring it as a dessert." Said Luna's mom excitingly and smiled at everyone before going back inside to finish the ice cream for tonight.

"Awesome!" exclaimed Ginny who really liked Luna and was glad her friend will be at the BBQ. Everything was much more fun with Luna around.

They spent next hour just chilling in the shade, sipping apple juice and talking about summer plans.

Luna was going to explore High Tatras with her daddy, looking for new kinds of undiscovered magical creatures, they were leaving in three weeks.

Weasleys didn't have any big plans but Ginny and Ron were really happy about their brother Charlie coming home sooner than expected and Jade was pretty excited too.

Then Luna admired the dragon scales Charlie sent them and announced that she'll ask daddy if they could go to Central Kenya one day and see the dragon herself.

They had to leave sooner than they wanted. The time passed really fast in Luna's company, but Molly told them to be back home around 1 p.m. to help her with the preparations.

They said good byes (for now) and went down the hill. The sun was up high and after climbing up from the valley they were all really tired and hot. Ron passed everyone a bottle of ginger ale and they continued their journey, slowly descending the steep hillside.

Lunch was already on the table. Molly didn't cook, because she knew they will eat too much tonight, so she just prepared all sorts of raw veggies and chick-peas hummus as a dip. It was light meal but kids loved it.

After eating two plates of carrots, cauliflower and broccoli Ron stretched on the couch ready for his nap but his Mom would hear nothing about it.

"No, no young man, I need you to cut the grass around out picnic table and also de-gnome the garden! Don't worry, I have some work for Ginny and Jade too, now stop complaining and off you go! You can have your nap as soon as everything's ready for tonight!"

Ginny and Jade were given a stack of napkins and plates and silverware to make the table ready and Jade volunteered to hang up some more Christmas lights on the tree, because she loved climbing trees and didn't have any opportunity to do so in a long time.

It took them almost three hours to finish everything and when Arthur came home from work at four, everything was ready, and a pile of tired kids with red cheeks and sweaty foreheads was lying in the new hammock.

Arthur just smiled at them and went inside to kiss Molly (who was franticly checking if everything's ready) and change from his work-clothes.

It's going to be fun tonight, everyone loved Weasley's BBQs.


	18. BBQ

Jade's POV

It was almost five, when Ginny invited Luna and her parents she said it will start at five.

I remembered many BBQs and afternoon tea parties and dinners. They always had the same rules. Be quiet, smile, never ever get dirty, don't eat food unless they offer it to you. I always had to wear shiny black shoes and white socks with ruffled edge and nice pink or pale yellow dress, they always curled my hair (or, after I've cut it, they always made me wear some kind of a bow or hair band which hurt my head.

I was waiting for Molly to come and rush us all upstairs to clean our ears and brush the dirt from behind our nails and I was right, here she was, standing in the doorway calling us inside.

"Ok, kids get upstairs and wash your hands before we'll eat. And Ron, please put on some clean shirt. Again." Added Molly when she sent us all to our rooms.

I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't have any dress or nice clothes, so I asked Ginny, when she was running down the stairs to the bathroom. She looked at me and said:

"Well, dad only has one rule – we have to wear some shoes, your sneakers will do. He just doesn't want us to step on some hot piece of coal or something. Come on, Luna will be here soon!" and she ran down to the bathroom where she quickly washed her hands and then I heard someone talking outside.

I looked out of my window and there was Luna and her Mom with some tall blond man who had to be Luna's father, just closing the gate.

I grabbed my sweatshirt and quickly went downstairs. I washed my hands in the kitchen sink and then pulled on my old sneakers. I didn't bother with laces; I just stuffed them inside the shoes and went outside.

We already had lots of plates and bowls with food on the table.

Arthur was trying to light the fire with matches (always fascinated with muggle-way) and Luna's father was helping him but they weren't very successful so far.

I joined Ron who was sitting in the hammock and rocking gently. I knew he would fall asleep again if he could but there was a possibility that we will eat soon and Ron didn't want to miss that.

We were just sitting there, I was pretty hungry too, we had only small lunch, I was sure Molly knew what she was doing, everyone was now waiting for the BBQ to start.

The fire was burning and Molly was in the kitchen with Luna's mom preparing zucchini and hotdogs. I went inside to see if I could help them with anything.

"Oh honey, you don't have to do anything, just go outside and relax." Smiled Molly and patted my cheek. I stayed there, I didn't really know what to do and when she saw me standing in the doorway, I was given a basket with sliced bread and a bottle of butter beer for Arthur.

"Well, aren't you sweet!" said Luna's mom when she saw me carrying the food outside and they followed me out because the fire was already roaring almost two meters high.

"Arthur! The fire's too big! You went over the edge again!" called Molly angrily and took out her wand. The fire calmed down.

I set the bread down and went around the table to give the beer to dad.

The sun was setting down and it was getting colder so I pulled on my hoodie and sat down on the tiny wooden stool close to the fire.

Molly gave everyone a long stick with sharp end and we've started to slowly bake the hotdogs and big chunks of zucchini. We baked the potatoes and Molly roasted ton of veggies on big wired mesh and we soon had plates full of hot baked tomatoes and even first sausages and toasts.

I was talking to Ron and Ginny way giggling over something with Luna and all the adults were chatting close to the fire.

Suddenly all the Christmas lights on the trees blinked and were turned on. It wasn't quite dark enough to need any artificial light but it looked really nice and festive. I looked around to see who turned them on but Molly and Arthur looked shocked and were looking around.

I saw him first, a tall man with dark travel cloak standing close to our gate.

"Remus! Hey! I'm glad you made it!" called Arthur and was shaking hands with his friend.

"Hi, I'm sorry I'm late but I had some work to do." Said the man silently.

"Molly, I forgot to tell you, I've met Remus today when I had to go out for some investigation about one muggle who brought an electric mixer from some witch and it was turning on and off without being plugged in. Fascinating things these mixers I wish I could have one in my garage to look it over."

"Arthur stop talking about such silly things, no one's interested in it. Come on Remus, sit down I'll bring you some butter beer and Ron will give you a hotdog and some bread." Said Molly and pushed Remus down on the bench alongside the table.

Ron gave up (unwillingly) the hotdog he was slowly roasting over the fire and Molly handed him a big slice of fresh bread. I jumped up and headed to the kitchen for another bottle of butter beer for Remus. Molly was about to go there herself but I was glad to stretch my legs and get away from all the people. It was starting to be a little crowded there.

Kitchen was nicely warm and dark AND silent. I pulled the beer from the fridge and turned around to go outside, back to the noisy, chilly and crazy mix of my new family and friends.

The night moths were already flying around the fire. Luna and her father were chasing garden gnomes around and Ginny was chasing them, but she couldn't keep up because she was laughing so hard she could hardly stand.

Ron was still sitting close to the fire, pouting a little bit because he had to give up the hotdog he was so carefully roasting for himself, but to be fair, I have to say he already ate 3 and now was roasting two more.

Molly was sitting in the hammock with Luna's mom laughing about something. Everyone looked so happy and relaxed but Remus was looking a little bit lonely.

I guess they knew him better then me and if they were giving him some time alone, than maybe he liked it that way.

"Here's your beer sir." I said and put the bottle on the table, close to his plate.

"Thanks Jade." He replied softly. I didn't question the fact he already knew my name. I was used to people talking bout me behind my back. It was always the same. Everyone knew my story before I had a chance to decide if I wanted to tell them or not. It made me feel like I had no privacy at all.

I thought the Weasleys were different, somehow, I trusted Molly that she wouldn't tell everyone who I was, where did I came from and what happened in the past.

Sure he didn't indicate in any way he knew my story, but it was always like that – adults talk, adults tell each other they have new kid in the house, and naturally questions are asked and answers are given.

I made a note to self that however nice this family was, they were all the same.

I wasn't disappointed, in one way I felt better. I lived here at the Burrow in big doubt, never at peace, still wondering if they are really different from all the people I've met before, or if they'll send me away just like everyone else did. Now I knew, and knowing the facts had a calming effect to me.

I let out a breath I was holding in, for almost a week now and I turned to .

"Are you alright?" it wasn't a polite question you ask when you meet a stranger. It was a real question, for a real person sitting in front of me, with sad face and deep blue circles under his eyes.

"I'm fine thank you." Came polite answer from the man.

"No, you're not." I felt brave now, when I knew I'm alone again, I had to stand up for myself.

He just looked at me and smiled sadly.

"you're right, I'm not. Didn't Molly tell you?" he asked, as if I was supposed to know something.

"No, I'm afraid she didn't have time. You see, she was pretty busy preparing the BBQ today, and I think she didn't even know you were coming." I wanted to ask if he's ill, but what if he really was? What if it was some serious disease? Who was I to ask? He has the right to share his own story, I know how it sucks when everyone knows more about you than you do.

"Well, I'm a werewolf you see, and it was full moon a couple of days ago." He said, looking at me, his head held high and his eyes looked almost angry.

"Hmm, and that's why you sit on your own?" I asked before I could re-think it. It wasn't very polite question.

"Well, no. I'm just really tired and grumpy after the transformation you know. And I'm not very good company these days, so Molly and Arthur just give me some time to relax." He smiled dreamily. "They were always my good friends."

"Should I leave then? I didn't want to impose…" I started, but he stopped me abruptly.

"No! Not at all, I like company, I spend most of my time alone, you know, but you might not like my company – now, when you know. And like I said, I'm not very pleasant these days, so maybe you should find someone more cheerful to spend your time with."

I had no idea what he was talking about. Now that I know what? That he's a werewolf? Is that a valid reason? I shouldn't ask but the curiosity got the better of me:

"Should I go away because you're a werewolf? Is that what you meant? Because I'm not sure I understand you. I don't now much about werewolves, I only know the ones from normal books, but I'm sure you're not like that. If you were, than Mrs. Weasley wouldn't let you be here – where Ginny and Ron are." I was sure Molly would never let anyone dangerous near her kids.

"Well, yes, Molly would never let me near Ron, Ginny OR you, if I was dangerous. Lots of the stuff you know from…normal books isn't right. I'm just normal man most of the time, just like anyone else, but people seem to forget about that and focus way too much on the couple of days around full moon every month." He said sadly.

I sat down next to him and giggled. "Well, tell me about it. I used to be perfectly normal most of the time, and then once in a while I did something strange involuntarily and people would kick me out, just like that." I hit the table with hand.

"But now, when people know who I am and why these things happen to me, they act a lot differently, you know?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You can't be serious. Are you comparing accidental magic with changing into werewolf every month?"

"Well, now that I'm thinking about it, sure, it's incomparable. You at least know when it's gonna happen, you can prepare, you know it will be over, and you now what's going on. I had no idea when I'll mess it up again, I didn't know if it will ever stop and the worst part was that I had no idea what was going on. It was awful." I shook my head, feeling a little bit blue, remembering all the accidents from the past.

And he laughed, I never saw anyone laughing that hard, there were tears in his eyes and he gently hugged me from the side.

"Oh Jade, you're the funniest brightest girl I've ever met! I would steal you right away, but Molly would catch me and bite my head off if I even suggested that." He laughed again, and then I noticed everyone was looking at us.

I couldn't blame them, Remus who looked half dead half depressed moments ago was now laughing, his eyes sparkled and he instantly looked ten years younger.

And I had to join him in laughing, even though I knew he was a werewolf, even though I realized Weasleys were just the same like everyone else, even though I felt more alone than ever, in a group of family and friends, I had to laugh, because life seemed so good in that very moment.

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><p><strong>There you go, another chapter, Jade's doubts and insecurities are showing a little bit, but we need to give her some time to deal with everything changing in her life.<strong>

**Another chapter will be here soon, thanks for being patient with me, life's been crazy.**


	19. long weekend

**Sorry guys, I know I've been terrible at updating the story lately, but life's been crazy. **

**Part of this chapter was written at the Amsterdam airport, waiting (12 hours) for my next connection flight which would bring me to Kenya. Yes, that's right, I was chasing after that mysterious dragon from Charlie's letter. LOL... I've spent lots of time with my kids and as the orphanage didn't have internet connection, I wasn't able to upload next chapter and after coming home I had head full of africa and then Christmas and...**

**I appologize for that, but I think you'll agree with me that when one wants to write magical stories, one has to live magical life. **

After magical fireworks and cherry pie for desert, everyone said goodnight and left.

Mr. Lovegood had to carry sleeping Luna home, balancing her on his shoulder why elegantly maneuvering among little bushes of petunias which surrounded the tiny narrow path leading towards their home. Luna's mom was skipping behind them, almost dancing, just the way Luna did, when she walked.

Molly gave everyone big piece of pie to take home, what Remus gladly accepted after politely refusing her offer to stay for the night.

Molly was mother, and it was in her nature to care for everyone as if they were kids.

The sky was covered with stars and it was hard to fall asleep when you could see that beauty through the window next to your bed.

Jade was lying in bed, wide awake. She was tired alright, but had too many things to think about, to fall asleep right away.

After few hours of thinking and re-thinking everything, she said to herself that it will be for the best if she enjoyed her time with Weasleys as long as she could, and worry about being send away when it happens, because of that she was sure – they'll send her away eventually, just like everyone else, it was just a matter of time until she crossed some sort of line. And in it's own twisted way, it calmed her and brought her the peace she needed. The peace of being in control of her life and knowing what will happen.

With that, Jade fell asleep, just when the sun was rising over the horizon.

Waking up after long night full of delicious hot-dogs, roasted potatoes and fun, makes you feel even more hungry than usually. That's why Jade got up from bed and walked downstairs immediately, still wearing her PJs. But in the middle of the stairway she remembered her manners and turned around, racing upstairs again. Ron almost knocked her down when he – still in pajamas himself- run downstairs guided by the delicious smell of scrambled eggs and freshly baked bread.

Coming down for breakfast, three minutes later than everyone else, Jade literally threw herself down on her chair and shoveled food into her mouth.

It didn't slip her attention however, that Molly quickly stuffed some parchment in her apron, hiding it from everyone's view. It was a letter, Jade was sure about that, because she (just barely, but still) could see an owl flying on the horizon away from The Burrow.

Jade wasn't like an ordinary girl, she noticed details, little signs, different movements of hand, nervous glances and unwashed dishes in the sink. Something was going on and when Molly sent them out with backpack full of lunch sandwiches and a thermos of soup, suggesting Arthur could take them for a trip to climb the mountain, Jade was sure it was just to make get them out of the house.

The walk wasn't bad, path leading through the forest with little clearings and a couple of bridges over the river. Jade loved it, they didn't walk too fast so she had time to explore and even climbed a couple of trees, sneakers hanging around her neck, it felt good to have tree branches under her bare feet again.

Ron started to complain he was hungry but Arthur told him to hang in there for one more hour, so Jade was sure there had to be some precise destination ahead of them.

They climbed a couple of rocks, not too steep but high enough for the kids to feel like explorers.

There was an old bench on top of the mountain, long enough for four of them but they sat down on the grass and stretched their legs in front of them.

"Let's take a picture daddy!" suggested Ginny, suddenly remembering her father's camera.

"Alright, we need to get a proof we climbed the mountain right darling?" smiled Arthur and put the camera on the bench setting a self timer.

"Ok, get ready and smile!" yelled Arthur and ran down the hill to stand behind his children. Camera clicked once.

"Now, one more, and let's get a goofy one, everybody make some silly pose and face!" suggested Arthur.

"Daddy, daddy! Will you stand on your head!" requested Ron.

"Sure, if you want to buddy. Now, make some place for me in the middle" replied Arthur and pressed the button. He ran to the group of children and stood on his hands, while Ginny sat down between his hands and pressed an exaggerated kiss to his cheek.

Ron stayed true to his nature and with an empty paper bag from the sandwiches (now laying on the ground next to their backpack) made himself a pointy hat, while he pretended to sing into the thermos microphone.

Jade wasn't sure what to do at first, seeing everyone being so spontaneous took her by surprise. She was always told to smile and look in the camera, stand with her hands neatly by her sides and always brush her hair from her face.

Now she was standing here, in cut off jean shorts, green tank-top and wild short hair flying to every side of the world.

Just before the self-timer went off, she grabbed a handful of tiny yellow flowers growing on the field and threw them in the air, in time for the camera to catch her ballerina-like pose and a million of yellow petals in the air.

Arthur almost fell down the hill, he was laughing so hard. This was going to be the best photo from the trip.

They ate lunch (picking ants from their sandwiches – Ron apologized for leaving them on the floor but everyone agreed it was worth the photo), enjoying sunny day and fantastic view from the mountain top.

It was time to go home, the sun was high and Arthur didn't want to keep kids out during the worst time of the day when sun was right over their heads.

They skipped down the hill, it was much better, under the trees in the shade.

Trip was almost over, and Jade suddenly remembered why they left. She was afraid to go home, as much as she persuaded herself she won't be staying forever, she couldn't help but call it home here.

Molly didn't say anything, just commented on Ginny's sunburned nose and sent everyone upstairs to freshen up.

They spent the rest of the day outside, sitting in the hammock reading (and playing with Harry doll), while Molly was constantly bringing out jugs of fresh lemonade and apples from their garden. Adventurous Saturday was followed by uneventful Sunday because it rained since breakfast. It was nice change after a couple of hot days but kids found themselves terribly bored, being stuck inside all day.

Jade's eyes were starting to hurt from all the reading, Ginny was grumpy because her mom washed Harry yesterday night and He was still wet, because no one remembered him until Ginny asked where was her doll few hours after breakfast so poor Harry spent half day outside getting good long rainy shower.

Ginny wouldn't let her mom to magically dry him because Ron told her the doll would shrunk and even though it wasn't true, Ginny would start hysterically yelling whenever Molly approached her Harry with wand.

So between Jade's starting headache, wet Harry and Ron stuffing twentieth cookie to his mouth it was awful afternoon and everyone was happy the day's over when Molly sent them to bed early.

"Jade can you stay here for a while" Arthur stopped his newest daughter before she went upstairs to bed.

Molly was putting away last dishes from dinner, so Arthur gestured towards the table and Jade sat down.

That's it. I'm in trouble. She thought to herself.

"So…" Molly started, "Miss Jones sent me a letter yesterday, asking if it would be ok to come on Monday and I told her we'll be waiting for her in the morning. She used magic to get everything look legal for the Muggle social services, because it would take forever to approve us as suitable family for you if we did it the muggle way, but…"

Jade swallowed hard, there was always a but – we'd love to keep you but... it's not your fault but…we know you're awesome girl but…

"…but she had to register you in the database of … kids with magic who needed family, to make it legal for our Ministry of magic and…there are still some steps we need to take so you could stay here legally. So miss Jones will come tomorrow and it's possible she will want to talk to you. Don't worry, it won't take long, we have lots of paperwork to go over, but she has to interview you too, as you're considered to be an older child now. I just wanted to tell you, so you'd be ready." Finished Molly.

Jade just nodded and then excused herself after saying good night and went up to her room.

All she heard was that social worker is coming tomorrow to talk to her. She didn't like social workers talking to her because it always meant she was going to move soon.

Jade pretended to be asleep when Molly checked on her a couple of minutes later, but then she spent all night, staring on the sky outside her window. It stopped raining and clouds were gone when sun started to rise and the dreaded day came.

Unable to think, Jade got up and dressed herself, picking cleanest, nicest tee-shirt she could find and a pair of long cotton pants. After combing her hair and looking at herself in the bathroom mirror to make sure she looked presentable enough, she climbed down the stairs and sat down on her usual spot, silently eating her piece of fresh bread with salted butter.

Breakfast was over and Ron with Ginny were already putting on their wellies (grass was still wet outside) when someone knocked on the front door, and soon Miss Jones was standing next to Jade, smiling and thanking Molly for the cup of coffee.

Molly rushed everyone outside, leaving Jade alone in the kitchen with Miss Jones for a brief moment of awkward silence.

When she returned Miss Jones took a huge pile of papers from her briefcase and took the first one from top.

"Let's start, shall we?"


	20. eavesdropping

Jade's POV

"I have a couple of basic questions for you Jade, don't worry, it won't take too long." Said Miss Jones smiling at me. She was talking as if I was five, but to be honest, it was hard to concentrate right now so I was really thankful she kept it on a level of kindergartener.

"Your full name is Jadelynne Larkspur Mraz. Correct?" she asked and I nodded, as I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep my voice steady.

I wiped my sweating palms in my pants. I was so nervous and confused. What happened? Did I do something again? Social workers came to my life only on days when I got into trouble and they had to find me yet another family or on days when new family was found and they had to introduce me and make sure I'll behave.

Next question was somehow unusual. No one really asked it before.

"What do you like to do in your free time?"

this one caught me off guard. Why was she asking? Was it some kind of a test? Maybe if I confessed I loved to climb trees they'd simply classify me as too wild and give Weasleys reason to send me away?

I opened my mouth but didn't know what to say.

"I'm only asking to make a little profile for your dossier. There are quite few questions here which aren't filled and they should be." Explained Miss Jones and looked at me encouragingly.

"Well, I like to fly?" it sounded more like a question but I couldn't help it.

Flying should be a safe answer – all their kids liked to fly and I really enjoyed the one and only time I've done it.

"And.." Miss Jones waited for me to continue.

"I like to climb trees?" wow another question? What's wrong with me?

"Ok, is there something else?"

What was she waiting for? Was I supposed to give her a list of all my activities?

Oh yeah, I love to read and write and draw and I'll run for hours if I get a chance, I love making friendship bracelets and cut out little things out of wood, I love playing with animals and dreaming and…

I had no idea what she wanted to hear so I just shrugged.

She asked a couple more questions which I answered the best I could.

She finished filling out the questionnaire and said: "That's all for this time, your can go now, we have lots of papers to fill with your mom so I won't keep you from playing any longer."

I nodded and looked to Mrs. Weasley, waiting for permission to leave the table.

Molly smiled at me and squeezed my hand: "why don't you go upstairs and change into shorts? It's getting hot outside. Then you can take a book from coffee table in the living room, I found one which you might enjoy."

I raced upstairs and quietly closed my bedroom door behind me and released the breath I didn't know I was holding.

That's it? Just a couple of questions which weren't answered in my file? Why did no one ever bother to fill them?

I changed into shorts and quietly crept down the stairs, hesitating a little couple of stairs from kitchen. Should I go through there and disturb them? That pile of paperwork looked important.

I was about to turn around and hide in my room when I heard Miss Jones:

"You know Molly, she was going from one family to another for all those years. You can't imagine how happy I am to finally find a family for her. Of course she'll have to stay in foster care for a while, there are too many steps to go through and ton of paperwork. I'm just happy I was able to pull a couple of strings at the ministry and she can stay with you instead of going to some orphanage for the waiting period."

What does she mean? Is there some family who's willing to take me forever? So Weasleys are in fact just another foster family, another short stop, before I have to move again.

I knew that, from the very beginning and I'm used to it so why does it hurt so much this time?

I should be happy that this is the last foster family before I find a forever one. But I didn't believe that. There is no such thing as forever family, they were going to kick me out eventually, that's the only think I was sure about.

I knew I wasn't going to stay, but somewhere deep in my heart I hoped I could somehow…

I liked it here, I loved Ginny and Ron and I was starting to love Molly and Arthur too, they looked like the first pair of trustworthy adults I've ever met.

Yes, I wished they would love me back and love me enough to keep me. Apparently that was just my wish.

I felt hot tears falling down my cheeks as I ran down stairs, not stopping anywhere, just flying through the garden, jumping over two or three garden gnomes who tried to trip me. I didn't ran this fast for a long time and my legs started to protest, but I didn't slow down, I never wanted to stop, if I could run forever I would but one can only ran a short distance with eyes filled with tears and full nose.

Nobody followed me. Molly thought I was just running outside to join her kids playing in the orchard and they didn't see me turning to the left, taking the path leading to forest.

I slowed down and eventually stopped under the biggest tree I've ever seen.

I climbed up, with bare feet it was easy to find little cracks and bumps to support myself and when I reached the branches it was much easier.

I climbed high, far above all the other trees and the branch which I picket as my sanctuary was still really wide.

I sat down and hugged my right knee, and started to cry. I didn't want another family, I wanted Weasleys but if they didn't want me, then I was going to ditch them first, there was no way how I was going back.

Adults always thought they knew what's best for me, always said things like – you will be happier with your new family, you will fit in there much better.

But I was happy here! And for the first time in my life I felt like I was fitting it.

It was way past the lunch time and I was starting to be hungry. Actually sun was almost setting down, I'm sure Mr. Weasley is already home from work. I lied down on the branch and it was surprisingly comfortable position to lie there with my feet hanging down from each side and my hands hugging the branch.

Meanwhile in burrow.

"Arthur we've searched every bit of the garden, village and even the path to Luna's house! She's not here!" cried Molly, sitting on the chair in her kitchen uncontrollably sobbing into the handkerchief Arthur offered her.

"Calm down honey, we'll find her. I'll call Lovegoods and Diggorys and Bells down from the village and we'll search the grounds again." Said Arthur with strict voice and threw a handful of floo powder into the fireplace.

Molly was staying with Ron, Ginny and little Luna at Burrow, because Arthur said someone had to stay, just in case she came back home, and also because he didn't want her to run around absolutely desperate and getting lost herself.

"We'll search the grounds again, each of us taking one direction and then walking that way. If you find her, send red sparkles up in the air. Thank you for coming, we really appreciate it." Said Arthur hanging his head down and discreetly wiping his eyes.

They started the search.

Garden and the House were checked by Molly again and Arthur with his friends checked the rest. Quidditch pitch, village, pond (which was the scariest part for Arthur and he was actually relieved they didn't find anyone in the water), they checked the road, the forest and Lovegood's grounds, but didn't find her.

Jade was sitting on her tree when Arthur walked beneath and called her name. For a brief moment she felt cold satisfaction knowing that everyone searched for her and she was so well hidden that no one could figure out where she was.

Once again, she had control of over her life.

Arthur seemed angry when he called her name over and over. His voice almost scared her but then she realized he won't find her. Never.

He continued, in the direction of the darkest part of the forest and just before she lost sight of him, he called her name one more time and his voice broke into sobs.

And that scared her more than all of the angry men she's ever met combined.

Jade wanted to jump down from her sanctuary and ran to him, and let him punish her and yell at her, it didn't matter, she just couldn't see him cry. He wasn't supposed to cry, he should be brave and protect his family.

But it was too late. He was gone and the sound of her name was replaced by dead silence of the forest.

Jade was lost. No one will ever find here, she was sure.

But as she was ready to climb down and run even further from home, Jade realized she was no longer alone.

There was woman standing by the tree, long strawberry blond hair and freckles on her cheeks, looking up straight into Jade's eyes. And she had the most beautiful blue eyes, exactly the same as Luna.

"can I come up?" she asked quietly, loud enough just for Jade to hear her.

The girl nodded. Did she had a choice? IT didn't matter right now, nothing mattered for Jade, she didn't even cry anymore, just sat there with terrible silence in her heart.

"you know, I'm actually quite happy you ran away from home." Said Mrs. Lovegood as she sat down on the branch next to Jade. She didn't look her in the eyes, just stared at the stars, silently smiling.

Jae had a speech prepared, how she was not going back how no one could force her but this? She certainly didn't expect hearing someone was happy she ran away.

"Molly is crying her eyes out you know? And Arthur is running around the forest right now and I'm pretty sure he's crying too. You ruined them." Continued Mrs. Lovegood, saying hard truth as if it was the only thing she could say in that situation.

"Why are you happy I ran away?" asked Jade after finally finding the strength to speak.

"I was making some experiments with spells tonight, just before your dad called us to help him search for you. Xeno said I had time to finish one more spell before we went. I knew Molly would be devastated, and as I imagined my own Luna getting lost, I knew there wasn't time for any spells. We left the very same moment Arthur called us. And on the way here…" Mrs. Lovegod smiled dreamily, "on the way here I realized that spell could have gone terribly wrong, there was one aspect I didn't consider before and…you see, it could have one terribly wrong. What would then happen to my Luna? And my Xeno? How could they go on without me? That's why I'm quite happy you decided to run away tonight."

Jade just nodded, not knowing what to say.

"They had to do something terrible, I assume?" continued Luna's mom.

"Who?" asked confused Jade.

"Molly and Arthur of course, I'm sure they've done something awful if you ran away."

"Well, yes. Yes they did, or at least they are going to do." Said Jade coldly. "They're sending me away. Miss Jones found a family for me, I heard her saying that to Mrs. Weasley this morning. How happy she was she finally found a family for me. Forever family."

"Oh, and why is that so bad? You don't want to have a family honey?" asked Mrs. Lovegood sadly.

"But I already have a family! And I loved them and thought they loved me back! But apparently I was wrong! But I don't ever want another family!" yelled Jade and new tears started to fall from her swollen eyes.

Luna's mom hugged her with one arm. "I'm pretty sure Molly would never make you leave if you didn't want to and if they could keep you they'd do everything to make it work but sometimes it's just not possible. I'm not sure though, why would they send you away, Molly told me how much everyone already loves you at the BBQ. I'm sure this is just one big misunderstanding, but you'll have to talk to them. Let's go home."

After a little hesitation, Jade climbed down the tree, with a tiny hope that maybe, just maybe they loved her enough to keep her here.

When they were safely on the ground, Mrs. Lovegood sent a beautiful red fireworks to the air, and before Jade could realize what was happening, Arthur was standing in front of her hugging her tightly and shaking her lightly. Then he held her a little bit away from him and looked her straight into the eyes.

"You can never do this again young lady understood? Never again!" he said strictly but when another silent tear fell down on Jade's cheek, he hugged her again and silently thanked Luna's mom for finding his daughter.

They walked hand in hand back home.

No one has ever seen Molly Weasley so furious, happy and relieved at the same time.


	21. meeting new Weasley

**Thank you guys for commenting! I love reading your reviews! I'll try to update as often as I can but we have a couple of big exams at school right now so please be patient with me :)**

**Thanks for reading!**

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><p><em>No one has ever seen Molly Weasley so furious, happy and relieved at the same time.<em>

After quick bear hug and overall check if she was ok, Molly pushed Jade into the kitchen.

Arthur stayed behind to thank everyone for helping with the search and wish them good night. All of his friends were parents and all of them understood what Molly and Arthur have been through this afternoon so when they heard Molly yelling from the kitchen, no one questioned it, they just quickly went home leaving parents to deal with the situation.

Arthur turned around and marched inside, ready to go into the kitchen when he spotted his two youngest ones sitting on the stairs.

"Off you go, you'd better be in bed sooner than I say quidditch!" he said strictly and chased the kids upstairs where he tucked them in their respective beds.

"Is Jade fine daddy?" asked Ginny, with concern.

"Yes, she is, she's safe at home now and you'll see her tomorrow, now go to sleep." He kissed her nose and left the room to say good night to Ron, who was as usually sitting on the last step in front of his bedroom door.

"Why did she run away?" asked Ron simply.

"I don't know buddy, I don't know." Arthur shook his bed and closed Ron's roof window before kissing his forehead and wishing him sweet dreams.

Just before he left his son's room, Ron piped out from under the covers and asked one more question:

"But she's going to stay here right? Even if she ran away? I mean, Fred and George messed up big time a lot and they still got to stay right?"

"of course she's going to stay! Where did you get the idea we'd send one of you away for getting in trouble?" asked surprised Arthur.

"Percy once told me that if I won't behave…"

"oh Ron, I'm sure he was only joking, it's not true ok? Don't worry about it." Arthur turned off the light and left the room.

He'll have to talk to Percy. Arthur was sure Percy would say it if Ron was bugging him while he was doing homework or something but that was no excuse for telling little boy his parents would send him away! They had an unspoken rule in the family, that family matters were not a topic for jokes, even twins never joked about such things. It was harmless, sure, but with Jade here and all her insecurities, it would be a major set back in bonding if someone told her she'll be send away for misbehaving. She was kicked out by too many families in the past so Arthur was sure she'd have no problem believing in something like this.

His thoughts were interrupted when he entered the kitchen and found Jade sitting on her place with bowl of potato soup in front of her and her head hanging so low that she almost dipped her short hair into it.

Molly was cutting a slice of bread to go with the soup but still had time for her monologue, which she was preparing all afternoon.

Arthur didn't understand most of the words because when Molly got furious she was…well, furious, and there was no stopping her, you just had to let her tell you what she wanted.

There were words like "empty room….no idea…scared…never again…crazy…mad" etc. accompanied by sobbing and finally crying.

"Molly, that's enough, let's all calm down and go to bed, there's no need to do this tonight, I'm sure Jade'll have enough time to think about what she's done tomorrow, after we all get some rest. Now, let's go up." He gently took Molly's arm and after she hugged Jade one more time and told her: "I love you honey, I'm totally mad, but I'll always love you, remember that." She let Arthur to lead the way upstairs. He looked back at Jade "I'll be right back." And after a minute he really came back and sat across from Jade.

She finished her bowl of soup and put the piece of bread in her pocket for later.

"Mom's just angry, don't worry, it will be better tomorrow." Said Arthur. "What you did scared hell out of us. Why would you run away like that?"

Jade just shrugged, she didn't know what to say, but when Arthur didn't say anything else, just waited for the answer, she confessed she heard Miss Jones talking about finding family for her, and she also wanted to tell him how much she wished she could stay, but that would mean showing him her soft spot and she couldn't do that.

"And you don't want to stay with us?" asked Arthur sadly. "I mean, nothing's official yet, but we hoped you'd want to stay here, as you'll be 11 soon, we'd need you to agree you want to stay before the adoption process is complete, but I understand if you don't want to. I'm sure you lived in nicer houses with far less children. It can get pretty crazy here…"

Adopt her? Stay with the Weasleys? What was he talking about? Didn't Miss Jones say she finally found a family for her, unless…

"You want me to stay? Forever?" asked Jade confused.

"Well, if you'd want to…" said Arthur and shrugged, "I mean we thought it was obvious from the very start no?"

Jade smiled and then giggled, could this be true? Then she nodded, of course she wanted to stay, she never lived in more beautiful home before.

"I want to stay." She said simply, smiling so wide, her face almost broke in half.

"Then all this was just a big misunderstanding!" exclaimed Arthur "let's forget about it for now, and just go to bed, you can talk about it more tomorrow with mom." He stood up and climbed the stairs, stopping for a while in front of Jade's room. He waited until she caught up with him and hugged her one more time, happy to have her at home. "Welcome home sweetie."

Jade hugged him back and went to her bedroom.

She couldn't believe it, was she really going to have Weasleys as forever family? After all these years? Two flights of stairs over Jade's room, Ginny Weasley smiled and finally closed her eyes. So she was really getting new sister, for good.

Jade got a week of extra chores, because as Molly said, if Ginny or Ron would have done something like that they'd get two years of extra chores and she'd make them copy all History of Hogwarts by hand, but with Jade it was a misunderstanding and she couldn't be too hard on her when she's new and all.

Days passed and the arrival of Charlie was really close.

"Now, now, we have to get ready for Charlie coming home, why don't we clean the backyard today?" Molly used to say after every breakfast for a week and Ron rolled his eyes every morning. Ok, to be fair it wasn't always the backyard. Sometimes they cleaned broom shed, sometimes they rooms, sometimes they had to de-gnome the garden, while Molly franticly scrubbed every surface of the house, kitchen, bathroom (two times), and even attic.

Finally the day of Charlie's arrival came and everyone was more than ready to welcome him back home and get some rest from everyday's cleaning and organizing.

Jade was picking some more strawberries (there were hundreds of new ripe ones every day)with Ginny, while Ron, who was supposed to be helping, fell asleep in the hammock. His sunhat fell off and he had big smear of red strawberry juice on his shirt.

With loud crack someone apparated on the other side of the house so kids didn't see who it was, but loud happy cry from their mom could only mean one person.

"Charlie! Charlie's here!" Ginny jumped into the air and pulled Ron down from the hammock.

Jade stood up and brushed off the knees of her jeans overall she was wearing that day.

Charlie was here, one more Weasley. She didn't know much about him, they only exchanged a couple of letters but she already knew she was going to love him.

Ron andGinny were already in the kitchen, greeting their big brother while Molly exclaimed over and over how thin he was and how she had to make him something to eat right away. In fact, she was already taking out bread to make him a sandwich when he stopped her.

"Mom, it's almost lunch and I'm not that hungry, relax." He laughed with deep young voice and kissed his mom on the cheek.

Jade had to restraint herself from running to him and hugging him like everyone else did, because after all, she didn't know him that well. But it just felt right to hug him, she felt like they've known each other forever.

Charlie solved her dilemma when he picked up Ron and moved him out of his way and dropping his military duffle bag he run outside through the back door with his arms wide open. When he was just a couple of feet from Jade she jumped into his embrace and laughed as he spun them around.

"Hey little sis! So good to finally see you!" he said, ruffling Jade's hair.

Jade was right, it was as if they've known each other forever.

Kids spent next hour outside, just talking and listening to Charlie's stories. Molly insisted they leave him lone, because he needed some rest after such long journey, but Charlie refused to go up to his room even to unpack. "I can do it all tonight mom, l don't want to spend such beautiful day inside!"

Charlie was chilling in the hammock with Ginny cuddling by his side closely examined the newest scratch on his forearm. Ron lied back against the tree and Jade climbed on the branch which was hanging low enough for her to hear Charlie's stories.

Lunch was delicious as always, but there was one more person, on more brother sitting in the kitchen. Jade never lived in big families, which was unusual, considering the face that most of the foster families in the system take in more than one kid and have also biological kids, but as Jade was known as "quite difficult" kid, she was always placed in a family with no more than two kids.

Today was particularly hot and Charlie suggested they should go swimming to the pond.

"Charlie, the water will be freezing! And how will you keep an eye on 3 little ones?" protested Molly.

"We're not little!" said Ron and pouted.

"Oh, come on mom, Ron and Ginny can swim pretty well, and I'm sure Jade will catch up too, plus I can use magic in case something happens, and we'll only stay on the beach close to the house." After Charlie said all his arguments, Molly couldn't say no. After all, when boys get home from school, they'll be in the water every day, so it's probably better to get her little ones chance to practice swimming without all the chaos first.

Jade put on one of Ginny's bathing suits and some old cotton shorts, and after Molly put generous layers of sun-block potion on everyone's noses and shoulders, they were ready to go.

Charlie carried big sun umbrella and huge blanket. Everyone else helped with the rest of the things, some soda bottles – with Muggle lemonade which Arthur brought home from London were a big hit, then inflatable mattress which Ginny insisted they blow up at home so she carried it all the way on her head.

Once they settled on the tiny beach, which was basically four feet wide stripe of sand Charlie asked Jade:

"So, what about you Jade? Can you swim?"

Of course she could swim, she once made it to the county competition, but she hated races and so after she had to change family one more time, she never told anyone how good she was at swimming.

"Sure, I took swimming lessons once." And in fact it was only one lesson, when she was six, because swimming was so natural for her, there was really nothing she could learn in swimming class with other six year olds.

"Ok then, if you can swim all the way from us up to that old oak over there, I'll let you swim without floaties .

It was less than 160 feet, she was sure about that, and she could swim 160 feet on one breath so this was going to be fun.

She stepped into the water, but Charlie stopped her when she was waist deep. After she explained it's hard to swim in such shallow water, he let her go in a little bit deeper.

She took a couple of deep breaths and then after breathing in so much air her lungs started to hurt, she dived in the water. It was easy to swim close to the bottom because water was clear and as long as she didn't touch the mud, she could see perfectly all the way to the Old Oak which was casting it's shadow over the water.

Charlie walked on the edge of the lake ready to pull her out of the water. He even started to panic a little when she didn't come up to breathe, but he could clearly see her swimming towards the oak so he let her go.

When she stood up, finally, standing under the oak smiling, Charlie just raised his eyebrows: "wow, I didn't see this coming" he said surprised. "you certainly are a little swimmer sis! Ok, let's go back and have some fun."

They paddled around on the floating mattress and Charlie used his wand to create little sprinkles from the water. It was cold but they kept themselves busy all the time so it wasn't too bad. After almost an hour of water fun, Charlie noticed Ginny's blue lips. She was visibly shaking but still, when he told everyone to get out of the water she was the one who protested.

They dried themselves and lied on the blanket, enjoying the heat from summer sun. It was almost end of May so they brothers would be coming home from school in a couple of days. Apparently there were some political arguments on the Ministry and Albus Dumbledore the headmaster of school had to go there and set it right, which most of the students appreciated greatly, because it meant their school year will end one whole month early!

Ginny couldn't wait for everyone to be home again, and while Jade was bathing in the sun rays she started to dream about her brothers she was about to meet and wondered how awesome it would be if they were all like Charlie…


	22. swimming

**Short chapter today, I didn't have much time to check the spelling – so I apologize **

**for any mistakes (again, English is my second language so be patient with me ;) **

**thank you ****Cookie05**** for reviewing I love knowing you enjoy the story …**

_Jade was bathing in the sun rays she started to dream about her brothers she was about to meet and wondered how awesome it would be if they were all like Charlie…_

After couple more rounds of water, sunshine and then water again, sun started to set down so Charlie rushed everyone inside – at least someone had to be responsible. If it was up to Jade they'd stay by the pond all night.

She re-discovered her love for swimming. She used to hate it, because when her foster parents found out she was really good at it, they made her join some local team and go to all the competitions. Jade hated races where everyone yelled and then got disappointed if she didn't finish first, or even if she did, there was no joy because everyone else was miserable and it was simply in Jade's nature to want to please everyone.

Dad apparated in front of the kitchen door just seconds before they got there. Ginny run up to him and jumped on his back. Arthur spun around like always but stopped abruptly after second turn – seeing Charlie was already home.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to see you again!" he exclaimed and pulled his son into one of the Weasleys' signature hugs.

Molly came out to see what it was all about and when she saw Arthur was home and everyone was still standing outside, kids with wet hair and wet bathing suits she pulled Ginny down from her husband's back and rushed everyone to the kitchen, telling everyone to go right up and get hot showers.

While everyone was taking turns in the two bathrooms of the Burrow, Molly stole a quiet moment with the love of her life and gently kissed him on the lips.

"Hmmm you smell like strawberry jam." Hummed Arthur and hugged his wife, stealing one of the left-over strawberries from behind her back.

"Well, we have twenty jars of new strawberry jam and some strawberry sorbet for dessert tonight." Replied Molly and lovingly stroked Arthur's left cheek, then patted him softly, "but if you're going to steal my strawberries Arthur Weasley, there will be no dinner for you!" she smacked his arm with the dishtowel and turned around to sweep off the counter top.

"Who needs dinner when he has such a deliciously looking lover" answered Arthur playfully and after stuffing another big strawberry to his mouth proceeded to kiss his wife again when…

"Ewww! dad !" exclaimed disgusted Ron who came down to the kitchen, freshly showered, wearing his pajama bottoms and his brown bath robe.

Arthur just smiled and run upstairs to change from his work clothes. Molly silently giggled, just as if she was seventeen again and he had kissed her good night in the Gryffindor common room.

Ginny and Jade came downstairs after a while, both with damp hair and Ginny requested two French braids one on each side of her head. Roast beef was still in the oven and Molly had enough time so she took off her apron and brushed her youngest daughter's hair with the comb Ginny gave her. She finished in no time and when she saw how Jade looked at them, she asked her: "Jade, would you like me to braid your hair too?"

Jade just shrugged "no, you don't have to, I mean, my hair is too short anyway…"

"Oh I'm sure it's long enough, here, sit down and I'll try."

And true to Molly's words, she managed to put two nice tight braids into Jade's hair – just like she did for Ginny.

"Oh look! Look Jade! We're like twins now!" exclaimed Ginny and hugged Jade around her neck.

Mom smiled at her two little girls and turned down the radio which was playing.

"Dinner's ready!" she called the stairs, her voice echoing all the way around the house, effectively reaching ears of Charlie and her husband who were chatting in the master's bedroom.

Dinner was pleasant as always, with strawberry sorbet and whipped cream on top for dessert. And as Molly looked around the table she couldn't be happier. (well, of course she could – she still missed all her boys, but they'll be home from school soon and then she'll have them all together.)

But as she looked at all her kids she noticed Jade was wearing Fred's old pajamas and Bill's ancient Gryffindor flannel shirt. That girl desperately needed some clothes of her own, but with the short budged they had, Molly couldn't imagine buying her a closet full of new clothes. But she has to buy her at least something! She can't wear her brother's old clothes for the rest of her life! They were going shopping, first thing tomorrow morning! Happy with that thought Molly sent everyone out of the kitchen so she could clean up after dinner. Arthur stayed behind to help with the dishes like always but before kids could even sit down on the couch in the tiny living room, Molly ordered to Charlie to go upstairs right now and unpack, because she wanted to do laundry tomorrow and she needed all his dirty clothes.

Charlie frowned but asked "Who wants to help?" and when he saw all the eager faces jumping with joy, he cheered up and they all raced up to his room. It was just one level down from Ron's attic room and it had one side slightly askew as the roof was starting at this floor, going all the way up to Ron's little bedroom.

Ron and Ginny loved opportunities like this – they weren't allowed to go to their brothers' rooms without their permission and as Charlie didn't get home very often, Molly didn't want anyone to mess with his things so she left the door closed.

Charlie's room was full of Quidditch flags and posters, he had big bed in the middle and red quilted comforter with squares of yellow added here and there in an irregular pattern. There was big rag rug on the , covering most of the hardwood floor and big window turned to opposite side of the house as Jade's.

the shelves and Charlie's desk were overflowing with all sorts of interesting items. Horns from dragons he tamed, stacks of letters and postcards from distant places were in fact the only organized thing in his room – all neatly stacked in small towers, tied with ordinary brown thread, they were standing on the top shelf, out of reach of small hands.

"Ok everyone, let's do this!" exclaimed Charlie with deep voice as if he was announcing beginning of some adventure.

He opened his duffle bag and took out small metal box and gently put it on his desk. Then he dug in and pulled out big pile of dirty clothes all muddy and burnt at places from his dragon training. He threw them all at Ron and he was completely buried underneath.

"Eeew what's that smell?" yelled Ginny holding her nose.

"that my dear sister" announced Charlie nonchalantly "is the scent of dragon manure and it closely resembles the smell of un-showered boy. You might want to get used to it, because that Harry of yours looks like he's avoiding shower by miles – just look at his untidy messy hair!" laughing Charlie was soon attacked by his furious little sister who managed to push him down on his back but he had no trouble to hold her in the air and keep himself out of reach of her tickly little fingers.

Ron managed to push the huge pile of clothes outside and close the door to keep the smell out of the room.

They unpacked everything, putting away all kinds of treasures Charlie brought home. Jade pinned two more postcards to the wall on the left side of the bed. It was filled with postcards and photos and you could hardly see the old yellowish wall paper.

Jade looked at all the pictures of Charlie and his friends, most of them were from school – she assumed. It looked like he was having such a good time there, surrounded by friends, she couldn't wait to go to school, but Ginny said their mom was teaching them at home. Maybe they weren't going to send her to school? It sure looked expensive there, maybe she'll just stay at home then.

She pushed the thoughts about that away and admired the moving photographs instead.

Charlie played his old gramophone and told them stories while everyone helped him clean his room. When everything was put away, he took the metal box which was waiting at his desk and opened it. There was short pile of neatly folded letters and as Jade noticed, last couple of them were from her and Ron. Charlie carefully put them up on the shelf and Jade suddenly felt happy inside, because someone wanted to keep a letter from her, because someone cared enough to keep a bit of paper with words she wrote. It was a small thing but it made her feel like part of the family. She smiled when Charlie looked at her and winked. There were more stories about dragons and friends from a far far away country and when the record stopped playing and Charlie wanted to turn it around to the other side, Molly knocked at the door and came in.

"Alright, everyone go to bed, it's way past your bedtime and we'll go shopping tomorrow so you'll have to get up early."

After Ron and Ginny hugged Charlie and then Charlie hugged Jade, because she hesitated at first, but gladly returned his hug once she knew he wanted to hug her, Molly kissed each of her children good night and after one extra hug for Charlie and one more "I'm glad you're home" she turned around and went down to her room.

They talked with Arthur and he agreed with her Jade needed some clothes of her own, he even gave Molly the extra galleon he earned for working late last week, he was just glad he didn't have to go with them because as all the Weasley boys he hated shopping trips.


	23. almost summer

**thank you everyone for adding my story to your favorites or to story alert and big thanks to _AnnabethWeasley22_ and _Cookie05_ for their reviews!**

**I love hearing from you guys and I'm really glad you like the story so far. **

**I'm thinking about writing next Chapter from twins' point of view, but I'm not sure yet, so let me know what you think about it.**

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><p>It was an early morning, so early in fact, that Arthur was still in his pajamas, eating his early breakfast, but today he wasn't alone. There was Ginny, with her hair freshly brushed into a high ponytail, dressed in her prettiest dress with her black mary-jane shoes on.<p>

Then, there was Jade, still wearing her nightshirt, and finally there was Ron and Charlie. Charlie was wearing jeans and poloshirt but Ron was in his bathrobe, with messy hair and tear stains all over his flushed cheeks and occasionally he hiccupped and hugged Charlie's left arm harder. He was clinging to his brother for dear life.

Yes, that's Right. Ron threw a tantrum in the morning. Molly woke everyone up but Ron told her he doesn't want to go and turned around, ready to sleep more.

Molly would have nothing about it. She made him get up and brush his teeth. She even got his jeans and t-shirt ready on his bed but when Ron came out of the bathroom he just said he doesn't want to go, over and over again.

"We won't be long, now, get dressed, we don't have time for this." She said and went to the kitchen to keep an eye on the porridge boiling in a big pod.

But when she came to check on Ron five minutes later, he was sitting on the top stair, still not dressed, with stubborn look on his face. After short argument, Ron started to cry, which didn't happen for a couple of years now, and finally threw a full tantrum by sitting on the ground while Molly dragged him to his room. Charlie who was just coming out of his own bedroom came to find out what was going on, and when Molly explained that Ron just doesn't want to go, he offered to stay home with his little brother.

"Are you sure? You wanted to go check out that quidditch store and …" asked Molly.

"Sure mom, I can get those things some next day." Confirmed Charlie and helped Ron to stand up. Little boy was still shaking with sobs and wouldn't agree to go even when Charlie tried to bribe him with candy.

Molly wouldn't usually give up if someone was disobeying but Ron never threw a fit and never refused a visit of candy shop so this time she was sure he really hated the idea of spending a day shopping.

"Alright then, you can stay home, but you'll listen to Charlie and if I hear he had any trouble with you today, you'll have a problem young man, understood?"

Ron nodded and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

They all came down and had breakfast together and after Arthur went to work and Molly took both girls to the Diagon alley Ron helped Charlie clean the kitchen and afterwards, the two boys just plopped down in the grass and enjoyed girl-free morning.

Molly arrived to Diagon alley by floo. She brushed her clothes off with huge brush and cleaned Ginny's dress and Jade's plaid shorts as well, before they went to the first store.

There was one shop with muggle clothes because wizards had to blend in with muggles every day, so they carried pretty big selection of all different brands and styles.

Muggle clothes were cheaper, compared to wizard's robes, because they didn't have to be tailored. Ginny ran straight to the rack with skirts, because mom promised her to get her a new skirt today.

Molly turned to Jade and asked her what would she like to get.

"I don't need any clothes, I have full drawers of shirts and shorts in my room – or do I have to give them back to boys when they get home from school?" asked Jade.

"What? Oh no, of course not, those are all old clothes and boys already outgrew them, but you need some clothes on your own honey! Maybe a dress or some nice skirt?" suggested Molly.

When Jade just looked at her as if she was crazy, Molly started with some basic things she had to get anyways, in hope that it might loosen up the atmosphere and then Jade would pick something for herself.

They went to the underwear department where Jade just picked a pack of 7 black panties and some socks. They were almost like boy shorts styled underwear but for girls, and if Jade wanted them, then Molly wasn't going to push her for something girlier. They got a pair of jeans and two tees and one nice dress for wich Molly really had to push Jade to try it on. Actually she made her try on all sorts of dresses, and Gonny loved every one of them, saying how pretty jade looked in every one of them, but by the face Jade made every time she saw herself in the mirror, Molly knew she wouldn't enjoy wearing them. Finally she let Jade walk around the store and pick something, anything she'd like to get – Molly said it would be a welcome-home present, but in fact she had a plan.

Jade stopped in front of a dark blue cowboy styled hat and looked back at Molly with a question in her eyes.

Molly was sure she'd get her the hat, no matter what, because she could see Jade really liked it but she needed a dress for her first.

"Go on, try it!" She encouraged her newest daughter.

Jade carefully picked it from the shelf and put it on her head.

It fit her perfectly and it really suited her well, Jade's hair was growing out and it had beautiful nut-brown color, now almost chin-long. And she also had really tan face and light gray eyes which were shining from under the hat's brim.

"You look really beautiful." Complimented Molly and there it was – a light rode blush on Jade's cheeks. "But you need to pick one dress first, before we go." Said Molly strictly and Jade knew there was no other way out.

After long search, she finally found one she liked and Molly had to say it was totally Jade's style and it really suited her well. It was knee-length dress, made of light breezy cotton fabric, ink blue with ting white polka dots, it had small blue buttons in front and built-in elastic on the waist. It looked beautiful. They bought Pink dress with flowers for Ginny and new hair elastics too, and a pair of black leggings for both girls, then they were done.

Molly didn't spend much money, far less than she expected because Jade refused to buy any more clothes, insisting she liked the ones she had at home. They didn't even spend the extra galleon from Arthur.

After quick lunch in Leaky Cauldron, they headed home.

Ginny run right up to her room to put on her new dress and show it to Charlie and Ron.

Jade took all her new clothes upstairs, after thanking Molly for millionth time, and put the away carefully. Then she changed into the cut-off overalls with little G scribbled in the waistband from the inside. They had to belong to George before.

She run down, barefoot and joined her brothers who were still hanging out under the tree in their backyard.

Jade loved her new life. Before, she would be always corrected by some adult to go beck and put on some shoes, she wouldn't be allowed to sit on the grass because grass-stains were hard to wash and she would never ever run down the stairs.

Now she was here, in Burrow's backyard with grass tickling her knees, wearing cut off jeans and her new cowboy hat and she loved her life, she loved her family. This was the first time she realized it, first time she was ready to admit it. She was starting to love Weasleys and she was ok with it. And she laughed, spinning around with her arms out and palms facing the sky. Then she turned back to the house and run to the kitchen, hugging Molly unexpectedly around her waist.

"I love you." She cried out and looked up to Molly's face. Her new mom had teary eyes but she didn't hesitate a bit and hugged Jade back, telling her she loved her too and she'll love her forever.

Jade smiled wide and run back outside where everyone else was playing catch and Ginny was standing in the middle of the chaos, screaming on the boys to stop running before she changes her dress because they'll ruin it.

Jade fit right in, catching Charlie and jumping on his back from behind. She caught him by surprise but he kept running and laughing until he jumped into the big pile of hay they had by the fence and Ron jumped in right after them.

Ginny was running inside, yelling at them all the time to stop and wait for her. "Don't have any fun without me guys, I'll be right back!" she yelled before she disappeared inside. As Molly watched them from her kitchen window, she had this feeling that the "honeymoon" phase of Jade's life with them was over and now the trouble was just behind the corner. She just couldn't imagine how crazy it will be to get into this new phase, when she'll start testing the borders, while twins will be home from school.

And although she was already worried about the summer, she was happy at the same time, because Jade finally felt like at home and her boys will be home soon.

And as she watched her kids throwing hay at each other and jumping from the big pile she knew everything will work out just fine.

Next couple of days was filled with more de-gnoming of the garden (which, as Jade was starting to realize by now, was completely useless) and more cleaning around the house ( about which Molly knew was useless, because with so many people in one tiny place, there was no way how she could keep her home tidy).

The day before the end of school year when owls delivered mail to the great hall, and Dumbledore wished everyone nice holiday and let them have a free day at Hogwarts before they'll all leave tomorrow, one very tired-looking owl with gray feathers delivered two letters to the Weasley boys.

One was pretty short, just a couple of sentences and "we love you" from mom and dad, with Percy's name on top, and one was three feet long, with lots of comments and reminders for Fred and George with lots of love from their parents but a rather long PS at the end, with a couple more rules Molly wanted to remind them about.

Percy opened his letter at the table, and read it over a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, while twins simply grabbed the parchment, stuffed their pockets with muffins and after saluting to Dumbledore who laughed at them and waving at Hagrid who happily waved back, they run out of the great hall, taking their breakfast outside. Happy they were given permission to skip the last day of classes and enjoy the sun,

plus they had a couple more last-minute pranks planed and had to try again to et that toilet seat they wanted to bring home for Ginny. They tried many times but their plan always filed at the end, when they were disturbed by some random students or professors.

Once they were even caught by Filch himself but once they were in his office he was called to go elsewhere and they managed to snatch a piece of old parchment from his desk.

They planned to find out what it was for but didn't have time until now.

Molly's letter left forgotten in George's right pocket, while boys ate dozens of muffins and tried to solve the mystery of the parchment in the shade of old tree near the lake, protected from unwanted onlookers.

They only had two days left before they'll have to put their wands away for summer.

There was no time for mom's letters now!


	24. homecoming

**Sorry guys, this is just a short chapter, not much happens here, but hey! Twins are finally home (so am I) so tomorrow will be much more adventurous!**

**Thanks for being patient with me, I had a couple of rough days at school = no time to write but …here's just a short update.**

**Enjoy :) **

**And thank you ****Cookie05**** for commenting again! I will really try my best to update more often now.**

**Thanks for reading.**

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><p>It was already dark outside, and all the Gryffindor students were getting back to their common room. Fred and George were sitting on their beds, still trying to figure out the mysterious parchment from Filch's office when Oliver opened the door and threw himself on his own bed.<p>

"Hey guys, ready for vacation?" he asked, getting his towel and soap from the drawer.

"oh Merlin, more than ready!" sighted George.

"Any plans for this summer? Can we expect any report about explosions when you get home?" laughed Wood heading out of the room towards the showers.

"maybe not explosions, you know our mom's gonna confiscate our wands as soon as we get to the King's Cross station, but I swear we're up to no good." Laughed Fred and high fived his twin.

"Well, I'm sure about that." Nodded Oliver and walked out of the room.

"Maybe we should leave it for later, maybe Bill could help us with it", said George and he was ready to put the parchment away, when he saw it!

"We did it! Fred! We did it!" it's finally doing something- and really, there were letters appearing on top fold, and tiny lines running all around the piece.

"That's it my dear brother, let us congratulate each other for solving grand mystery of Filch's forbidden drawer." Announced Fred officially and shook his brother's hand vigorously, before jumping up on George's bed looking at the parchment closely.

They looked it over, studied every little fold, every side and every corridor of the map, because it was a map indeed, map of Hogwarts as no one knew it, with passages and doors on places they shouldn't be, with secret rooms and most importantly, filled with little ink dots moving around, with names appearing over them.

They stayed up late, looking at the map in the light from their wands long after all their roommates went to sleep.

In all the excitement about the map and exhaustion from the last couple of pranks they pulled before dinner, boys didn't wake up until eight.

That was bad, breakfast was going to end in half an hour, they didn't pack their trunks yet and Percy was standing by the door, looking at them with the same deadly stare mom used to have on cleaning days when they went exploring instead of de-gnoming the garden.

Twins jumped out of their beds and emptied the drawers from their cupboard into their trunks and in less than a minute they were ready to go down and grab something to eat before they left for vacation.

The same thing happened when they were leaving for Christmas holiday, and it was a miracle they didn't forget anything.

After boarding the train and finding a compartment with Oliver and Lee, a couple games of exploding snap and few dozens of chocolate frogs Lee had left over from his candy stash, boys snoozed off with faces pressed to the cold window.

It was starting to get hot outside, summer was definitely starting.

George and Fred explored the map for some time but it was pretty boring now with only Miss Norris and Filch wandering around the castle and Hagrid probably sitting in his hut.

Fred put it away, hiding it safely in his trunk, because they still didn't find a way to turn it "off" again, but it was probably better to leave it in it's "map mode" for the summer.

They were bored, with both of their roommates sleeping and nothing to do on a train, twins found themselves in a rare state of boredom which draw them crazy.

Fred used his wand as a drumstick, just to have something to do. George searched his pockets for some forgotten piece of candy but instead of sweets he found a letter from mom.

He leaned over to Fred and they've read it together. It was fairly boring and rather insulting letter.

"who does she think we are? We would never say anything insensitive to Jade, or Ginny or anyone!" exclaimed George. "We are always perfect gentleman and kind-hearted brothers!" added Fred, pretending to wipe his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Of course we'll pull a couple of pranks won't we?"

"But that's just because we want her to feel included- just like everyone else in the family!"

"There's no way we would treat her differently! We have new sister, and what!"

"just one more Weasly to have fun with."

They both nodded and ignored the rest of the letter completely, embarking on the mission to win toilet seats. That's right. Not one, but two toilet seats for their two sisters who'll be waiting for them at the King's cross station in twenty minutes. There was no time to lose.

"remind me…Why are we always in a hurry George?" Whispered Fred (trying not to laugh) from the corridor, he was guarding the door so no one would spoil their plan.

"Because, my dear brother, we live exciting lives. And excitement needs the best timing, that's why we should run now!"

They chased each other all the way to second bathroom and after successfully removing another toilet seat, they had just enough time to get their suitcases before train stopped.

They said good-bye to their friends and jumped out of the carriage, looking for their parents in a sea of all the families who came here to pick up their kids.

And there were just a couple of meters from mom and dad, waving at their sisters and Ron with their newly acquired bathroom equipment, when suddenly a train conductor caught them by their ears, stopping them on the spot and yanking the toilet-seats from their hands.

"You are lucky boys that school year's over or I'd make you clean all the bathrooms on this train as a punishment! Off you go and don't let me catch you again!" said the conductor and walked away.

"Ok, did you hear that Fred? We can't let him catch us next time" George winked at his brother.

Percy walked by, shaking his head disgusted by the prank of his brothers. He kissed his mom on the cheek and hugged dad, saying welcome to his siblings.

Ginny was still giggling and even though Molly didn't seem impressed, she crushed them both in a bear hug, kissing their foreheads.

"Now boys, this is Jade, she's new to all magic so don't pull any pranks on her for now.." said Arthur and when Molly furiously looked at him he added "…no pranks on anyone…any pranks… mean, obviously no pranks all summer?" he asked looking at Molly.

She just shook her hear and rushed the girls through the barrier out to the muggle world again.

Jade had just enough time to look over her shoulder and flash a smile on the twins.

It was more of a mischievous grin than a sweet girly smile they were expecting.

"Well, I think we won't pull any pranks on her." Said Fred.

"Deffinitely not. We will pull pranks with her." Smiled George and they both followed their father who disappeared behind the barrier with Percy.

The family took a bus to the street where Leaky Cauldron was. Luckily Jade knew London buses pretty well, because she lived in different parts of the city for a period of time.

They took floo home and before anyone had time to say anything, Molly told them to go upstairs and unpack. And she used her deathly stare so none of the boys had courage to disobey.

There were always endless loads of laundry when boys came back from school and Molly just wanted to be done with it.

It was cold evening, sun was already down so Arthur turned on the Christmas lights they still had on the trees from the BBQ.

Jade put on a sweatshirt went outside to swing in their hammock for a while and watch the first stars appear on the cloudless sky. She needed a little bit of peace after the afternoon filled with boys running all around the place with piles of dirty socks and what she assumed were school uniforms.

It was great having so many brothers home. She didn't really have time to get to know them but hey, they had all summer after all.

Tomorrow was going to be perfect.


	25. morning dew

Jade's thoughts were interrupted when Molly peaked out from the back door and called her inside for dinner.

She was ready to sit down but Molly stopped her: "ah ah ah, go upstairs and wash your hands."

When Jade came back, everyone was already sitting at the table and Molly was putting out bowl full of meat and baked potatoes and of course salad from fresh veggies from their garden. It was delicious dinner, like always.

"You know mom, we get delicious meals at Hogwarts" started Fred, and Molly suddenly looked a little bit sad. She was trying her best, with they could never afford to prepare feast like they had at school.

And George agreed with his brother "Yes, mom, almost as delicious as yours"

"but they're not quite there yet, you could teach them a thing or two" added Fred and Molly suddenly jumped out of her chair and hugged them both.

"Oh boys, my silly boys" she kissed each of them on the cheek and added them second helpings of everything on their plates.

Jade smiled widely, falling in love with her family more and more every second.

When everything calmed down the questioning begun.

"So Jade, mom says you're 10?" asked George.

"I'll be 11 soon – on first September." Said Jade

What's your favorite color?" Fred wanted to know.

"Teal!" answered Ginny who knew the answer.

Twins asked lots of silly questions – favorite kind of jelly beans, favorite side to sleep on, preferred kind of potatoes, favorite Christmas song, dreams about the future, dreams from the past, did she go to muggle school, first magic performed, favorite kind of pie, favorite school subject, does she step on every stair on the way up, and what about on th way down? Favorite book, jeans or skirt, swim or fly? – that one was tough but she preferred to fly, Jade answered after a little hesitation.

Most of the questions however were answered by Ron or Ginny, and Molly was amazed how much they knew about their new sister, and she carefully listened to every answer, even to the most random questions, because she realized how much she has missed from Jade's first years of life.

After almost an hour of constant interrogation Arthur stopped them.

"Come on guys, you don't want to find out everything tonight, there would be no secrets left! We have all summer to catch up, now let's just eat dinner and then we can talk more." Everyone agreed it would be awful to waste such lovely dinner and although they still talked and teased each other. It wasn't all about Jade and she finally had time to eat more than one forkful of carrot mash.

Night came fast and suddenly it was time to sleep and so parents put all their kids to sleep. There was only Bill missing, but he'll come home soon.

"So, Jade will be 11 in September. Do you think she'll get her first Hogwarts letter this summer?" asked Arthur after he pulled his pajamas over his head and his ginger hair got even messier than it was before.

"Oh, I don't know, I wish I could keep her home for one more year, it would be much better for getting to know each other and also I'd have more time to teach her about magic, she hardly knows anything." Answered Molly, looking a tiny bit worried.

"Let it be for now." Whispered Arthur and buried himself under the covers. "You know what's coming? Remember?" he asked kissing his wife.

"Honey, how could I forget! Do you think we could still go to our date? You know, now when Jade's here and she's settling in and everyone's home from school…"

"Don't worry, I have everything set, you don't have to do anything, just celebrate our anniversary." He kissed her again and not even five seconds after, he was already asleep and Molly fell asleep too, dreaming about their date which was closer than she realized with all the stress over kids and summer vacation.

Everyone slept, except for Jade. She felt at home enough to sleep, don't worry about that, but she was still going on her usual scheme – sleep for one night, then one night awake. This helped her get tired enough to fall asleep and sleep so hard she had absolutely no dreams.

And tonight was her night up.

She couldn't do much, there was no way she would turn on the light, someone could see it. That meant no reading. And what else could you do? So she imagined. Jade loved day-dreaming about her life. She imagined the school where boys went and how cool it would be to go there too.

She imagined living with Weasleys. Nothing exciting, just normal days, filled with random daily activities. She imagined herself flying again.

No one asked to go flying since the day of the accident and it was still a little bit touchy subject, because Molly would throw a deadly stare at Arthur whenever he just mentioned something slightly associated with flying.

Bud Jade missed it. She wanted to feel so free again and be good in something she didn't have to learn. It was like swimming for her, just much more awesome.

It was almost five in the morning, and Jade was snoozing in and out of sleep when she heard someone open her door and soon she "woke up" to someone jumping to the end of her bed and someone other opening the window.

Jade opened her eyes pretending she just woke up after a night of sweet dreams but that didn't fool the boys.

"Oh, come on. Don't you dare pretend something in front of us. We are masters of secrets and illusion…"started Fred. "you can't fool us, you didn't sleep tonight." Finished George.

"We don't care right now.."

"…just wanted to ask if you want to help us with the morning hunt for some ingredients we'll need…"

"…let's just say, for our summer extra-credit project."

They both winked at Jade and even though they looked totally identical when they did things like that and it always confused people when they finished each other's sentences, but Jade could easily tell them apart.

They might be masters of illusion, but she grew up alone, depending on no one else, just her ability to observe and learn quickly.

"Alright. Are we going outside?" she agreed to go. Partly because she wanted to fit in, but mostly because she really wanted to o, and if they were going exploring, she wouldn't want to miss that chance.

"Just put on some jeans and wellies are downstairs – there's still morning dew on the grass." Said George, looking a little bit surprised she agreed so fast.

"And try to be as quiet as possible, wouldn't want to wake mom." Added Fred.

They could never wake Ron up, and Ginny was just too small, she'd be more trouble than help. Percy was completely out of question and Charlie was being far too responsible these last months so Jade was a welcome addition to the family and twins saw her like great partner in crime for their pranks and projects.

She pulled on her overalls and a sweatshirt because the air was still a little bit chilly outside. She slowly closed the window and tip-toed down the stairs to pull on her wellies.

"Come on! Hurry!" boys were already waiting outside, with small backpack and a pair of scissors.

"We're going to collect some herbs and weeds and such…to try for one of our new fireworks we're developing."

"It's going well, we just need to cover the nasty smell it makes when you lit one."

"Disgusting thing, like old socks and Brussels sprouts together."

Jade scratched her nose. She had no idea what she should look for. She was never very good in gardening, but they didn't head for the garden anyways.

Boys lead her to the pond, where they searched the bushes and grabbed few water lilies from the far end. They didn't talk much, it was too quiet to keep long conversation without waking half of their family, and that would lead to unnecessary questions from mom and that was never good.

They filled the backpack with various leaves, handfuls of grass, carefully tied together with straws to keep different samples together. They had a piece of pine branch and dry willow sprout together with some mushrooms Jade found growing on the side of their old oak and a twig of unknown origin.

For an outsider, it was just a bag full of dirt, most of it still wet from the dew, but Fred, George and Jade knew it was full of treasures carefully collected from all over the Burrow in especially early hour.

As the three of them were slowly creeping back through the kitchen door, they found Arthur already wide awake, sitting on his usual spot, wearing his usual work clothes and drinking his coffee just like he did every morning.

He didn't ask any questions, just looked at them and said: "Go! Hurry up, mom's getting dressed in our room. Let's pretend I didn't see you out of your beds this early." And without any further words he turned back to his newspaper, hiding his smile behind the pages.

Arthur would never ruin his children's summer adventures. He really didn't care what they did in their free time as long as it was safe and legal. He never stressed over things like wet cold feet or bags full of dirt found under twins' beds, like Molly did.

This wasn't a hill to die on.

Jade pulled boys into her room just in time to save them from the collision with Molly. They stayed completely still silently praying she won't decide to check on Jade on the way down, but she didn't, so twins carefully slid out from their sister's bedroom and run up the stairs being careful to jump over the squeaky ones.

This was quite successful morning, they had enough samples for days an days of experiments.

And when Molly came to their room an hour later to wake them up and rush them down to the kitchen before the porridge would be cold, no one said a word, they just exchanged knowing looks and Jade smiled happily over her bowl of cereals.


	26. friend from the past

**Thank you Cookie05 for commenting again and also thanks to ****AnnabethWeasley22**** for commenting on the previous chapter… I really appreciate your comments, it feels god to know that someone actually reads my story!**

**(sorry for any typos, it's midnight here and I'm half asleep already)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Now that boys were home, Molly had more work to do. There were piles of laundry from their school trunks and too many dishes to fit in the sink. The floor was already dirty (even though she had no idea which of her kids managed to make muddy footprints on her clean kitchen floor before breakfast) thank Merlin today was Friday.<p>

Charlie was brave enough to offer he'll take them all to the village and on their way back buy all the groceries they needed for dinner.

Molly handed him the money they'll need and checked if everyone had sneakers on (or at least with them) and reminded Charlie there's a muggle family visiting one of their neighbors so there was absolutely no magic permitted for at least two weeks.

As Molly watched her children walk down the path leading to the village, she couldn't help but wonder how Jade lived all those years without her brothers and sister. She seemed to fit right in with everyone and she was getting more comfortable with her parents now.

The truth is that Jade never really missed siblings or friends before. She moved quite a lot and so she was used to being alone, but now she couldn't imagine life without so many people in the house.

She didn't think about her classmates from the past, but there really was one boy who went with her to kindergarten and then first two grades of primary school, whom Jade missed a lot.

Bruno. She often wondered if he still remembered her.

Those three years were the longest period of time she stayed with one family. Then, after her first incident with magic (well, at least first that someone noticed) she was sent away and never really found new friends.

They walked down the hill, while Ron told Twins and Charlie about their wagon crash. Everyone laughed about it, and the village seemed closer for Jade now, when she knew where they were going. They reached the last turn of the path before the village so Charlie told everyone to put on their shoes and repeated their mother's warning about absolutely no magic.

They walked across the street and down the road to the center square where they had church shop, little post office with public phone outside and a little pub.

Jade wondered who those muggles were. She didn't know many of people living there but she was sure she could spot a muggle if she saw one now.

They went to the park and Fred with George pushed Ginny on the swing really high.

Ron climber up the slide and stayed sitting on top, just looking around.

Jade walked around the park, it wasn't big, with only two benches and one path which formed a circle and ended at the same spot where it started. Not much to explore, but Jade liked the change of scenery.

She spent last couple of weeks at the Burrow, with little trips here and there, but mostly Burrow, and now they were at the Village, with whole morning for themselves.

Jade was going to ask Charlie if she could go for a walk around the second street, when Ron announced from the slide top: "someone's coming. Oh, it's Paul! Cool! And there's someone with him. Sweet son of banshee! D'you think it could be that muggle?" Ron almost fell down the slide, head first.

"Ok everyone, just watch your mouths – don't say anything you're not supposed to say." Reminded them Charlie and helped Ron back to his feet.

"Hey Paul!" exclaimed Ron. They were good friends since they were close age and there weren't many other boys at the village.

"What's up? Haven't seen you in a while." Asked Paul and high fived Ron.

"you know, just usual stuff, chillin'at home" Ron played it cool, but the truth was mom wouldn't let him go to the village alone just yet, because it was pretty long way from their home.

"I heard you have new sister now. Is it true?" Paul wanted to know. There were rumors going around the village and he heard some adults talking about the newest addition to weasley's family but no one wanted to talk to him about it.

"Oh, yeah, Jade came about a month ago. She's really cool." Said Ron. He didn't like the way Paul asked about Jade. As if she was some kind of freak and he wanted to see if she's really that odd.

Ron looked around to find his newest sister, but she was at the far end of the park, slowly walking to them. She'll get there eventually, so Ron changed the topic.

"And who's your friend?" asked Ron, totally aware the other boy had to be muggle, because he was dressed in clothes which looked too… too muggle. However hard wizards tried to recreate muggle clothes, to blend in, they were never this successful, plus Ron has never seen him before.

By now, Ginny stopped swinging and joined Ron with twins.

"Yeah, he's my muggle cousin. He'll stay here for two weeks. Doesn't know about magic so we have to be really careful at home – it kind of sucks because I have to clean my room the "normal" way now." Paul rolled his eyes.

Fred and George just looked at him as if he was crazy, the other boy was standing just a couple of feet behind Paul and if he didn't know abut magic before, he surely had to know now, because he heard all their conversation. Ron opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, not knowing how to react.

"Relax guys, he's deaf. Can't hear a word." Laughed Paul and walked over to the bench. Ron smiled at the stranger and then followed his friend. He absolutely hated the way Paul talked about his cousin, why didn't he tried to include him? Why didn't he introduce him to his friends, or at least called him to sit on the bench with them?

And Ron asked all those questions, because even though h wasn't always as brave as he wanted to be, or as smart as his mom wanted him to be, he was kind and raised to care for everyone and always be nice to people.

"well, he can't read from lips very well yet and there's no way I'm going to learn his freaky signs he uses with his parents." Said Paul. "My mom knows the basics, so she talks to him, but she had to go to the city today so I have to drag him with me everywhere."

The boy who was standing where Paul left him, slowly walked to the swings and started to swing softly, looking down at his sneakers.

Ron was sad, he wished he could talk to the boy, right now, he was sure the muggle would be much nicer company than his friend Paul. Ron wasn't sure why he talked to Paul anyway. Twins disappeared, getting into some kind of trouble for sure, and Charlie told them to stay in the park while he went to the post office to send out some documents he needed for school. Ginny was talking to Jade, but quickly lost interest , sat down on the grass and started to make daisy chains. It was slow morning and all she wanted was to be home already because mom promised they'll bake cupcakes after lunch.

Jade walked slowly in the direction of boys, she was usually good in getting to know new people but Paul seemed to have a little bit too high self-esteem for her taste.

Then there was that other boy, swinging on the…

Ron looked at Jade as she sprinted around them and hugged the boy at the swing.

She didn't say anything, just hugged him for a long while and he hugged her back!

Does that mean she knows him?

Jade let the boy go and started to quickly sign and talk at the same time. And the boy signed back, so fast that Ron had no idea how Jade could even see hat he was doing with his hands.

"so that's your new sister?" asked Paul, clearly not impressed.

"Yes, that's Jade." Said Ron and looked at his sister a little bit jealous. She knew how to talk to him. That wasn't fair. Ron wanted to get to know him too, but it looked impossible to learn.

"Well, I hoped she would be more extraordinary. Seems quite average to me, I have no idea why whole village talks about her, do you?" asked Paul with bored voice.

"You know what Paul? You're not even average, you're way below average. You have no idea how awesome it is to have one more sister and clearly, she's much more extraordinary than you if she can talk to your cousin without problem and you can't even introduce me to him." Said Ron calmly and walked away from his childhood friend.

Paul crossed a line, and Ron wasn't going to stick around and wait for him to insult his family any longer.

"Hey Jade?" started Ron as he came closer, "Could you introduce me?"

"sure!" exclaimed Jade and pulled him closer by his arm.

"Ron, this is Bruno, my friend from school." She said and signed along, "and Bruno, this is Ron, my new brother."

Ron shook hands with Bruno and smiled at him again.

Paul walked past them and told Ron to bring Bruno back to their house when they'll go away.

Ron didn't mind, he just nodded and watched with fascination how Jade continued signing.

Ginny skipped to them with long Daisy chain around her neck, smiling sweetly at their newest friend. She looked a little bit scared and stayed close to her brother at first, because she has never seen a boy who didn't talk and moved his hands so strangely but she warmed up and started to ask Jade to repeat some signs and tried to sign them herself.

They had fun trying to learn signs for everything around them.

Ginny wanted to know how signs for grass, trees, sun, sky and bench looked like and Ron soon joined her, when he saw that Bruno didn't mind showing them all he knew.

They made sure they didn't ask or say anything about magic though, because mom would never let them go to the village again.

When Charlie came back with twins behind him, whispering something to each other and hiding some package s in their pockets, Jade was too sad to say good bye.

They walked Bruno back to Paul's house and when Jade hugged him and a single tear fell down her cheek, Charlie promised her he'll take them down to the village again next week so they could see each other at least one more time before Bruno has to go home.

When Molly heard about Jade's old friend staying at the village and about her newest daughter's knowledge of sign language, she once again realizes how little she knows about her and made a promise to herself she'll find some one on one time with her daughter soon.


	27. flying again

**thank you all for the encouraging reviews! love hearing from you guys! **

**here's another chapter - sorry I didn't upload it earlier but I had lots of exams at school...**

**enjoy! :)**

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><p>It was a long day and when Jade was practically falling asleep behind the table at dinner, Molly rushed her upstairs to change into PJs and brush her teeth.<p>

She fell asleep before she had time to get under covers and Molly just smiled at her and closed the door.

She would check Jade later to see if she managed to wiggle her way under the blanket because it was pretty cold at night.

Arthur was still downstairs with kids but as soon as Molly came to the living room Fred and George excused themselves, saying good night to their mom and running upstairs to their room. Ginny hugged her mom and went upstairs too, asking on the way, if someone could bring her a cup of water.

"I'm on it." Said her daddy and rushed to the kitchen for a glass of fresh water.

Molly just smiled and kissed Charlie good night and he just nodded his head, saying he'll stay up a little bit longer to catch up on all the UK quidditch magazines.

Percy collected all his books and wished his parents sweet dreams, before going to his room to study a little bit more for his extra-credit summer school project for his spells-class.

Arthur rolled his eyes after hearing that and followed his son upstairs to bring the water to his youngest.

Molly turned off the light in the kitchen and decided to check on Jade before she went to bed.

Jade was still asleep, but she turned to her side and her covers were impossibly wrapped around her. There was no way Molly could cover her properly without waking her up. So she took the crocheted blanked from the chair where Jade put it before going to bed and tucked her newest little one in.

Everyone woke up to beautiful first Saturday of summer.

Jade was up early, as well as Charlie and Percy, who was already dressed and sitting on the living-room couch with book and bunch of parchments with notes.

"Breakfast's ready!" called Molly and happily watched the kitchen fill with all her children.

Arthur carried Ron down and twins followed him with sleepy eyes and messy hair.

They had matching PJs but that didn't fool Jade. She knew exactly who is who.

And when she watched Arthur put his youngest son down on his chair, she knew what this meant and she felt excited.

Today was perfect day for flying. Everyone shoveled porridge into their mouths and jumped from behind the table almost at the same time, except for Percy who was reading morning newspaper.

"Alraight, everyone get dressed, I'll meet you by the broom shed in five minutes!" they run upstairs and Molly heard five door slams.

"Aren't you going with dad honey?" She asked her son, whose nose was still buried deep in the Daily Prophet.

"Mom, you know Fred and George are going to blow something up or get into some kind of trouble the minute they leave house and really, I have this essay to write, and some letters to mail to Penelope…I mean, to some friends from school." Explained Percy, folded the newspaper and after putting his dishes to the sink he was ready to go back to his room. Thankfully today there will be no yelling or running in the house.

"You're not staying inside Percy." Said Molly strictly. "I don't mind if you read or study or whatever you want to do, I want to see you outside. It's summer Percy, you're home finally after five months and dad and I missed you so much. Why don't you go with them? You don't have to fly, just, I don't know… take your books there and at least be with everyone else. Please." Said Molly and looked sadly at her son.

"Ok mom, but I'm taking the spell book. I won't miss whole day of studying just because they want to fly." Sighed Percy and marched upstairs.

Arthur handed everyone their broom, but now that Charlie was back, there was only Bill's very ancient Comet left for Jade and it wasn't exactly reliable broom.

"Well, I guess you'll have to get Bill's old school broom, it's pretty slow and it always turns a little bit to left, but that's all we have." Said Arthur, apologizing to Jade.

"That's ok, I'm just a beginner anyway, I'm sure it's perfect for me." Smiled Jade and gladly took the old broom.

"No, dad, she can take mine – I'm not going to fly anyways, I'll just sit there and study. And watch you guys fly, really, I have too much school work." Said Percy, handing his almost unused broom to Jade.

"Are you sure? I can fly on this one, it's no problem." Said Jade but Percy shook his head and gave her his broom.

When he saw how happy she was that he'd share his broom and when she hugged him, he couldn't help but smile and hug her back.

"No problem sis, that's what brothers are for." Percy replied and everyone was looking at him speechless. This didn't seem like Percy at all, well, until he added:

"at least now I can carry my books and don't get them all dirty from the dust. I have one very important essay to write about medieval spells for professor…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, some highly important…"started Fred

"…and very advanced-level essay about how your nose needs to be cleaned…" added George

"…properly from all the times you stuck it up some professor's …" continued Fred.

"-that's enough boys, let's go!" laughed Arthur and rushed girls in front of him.

"…butt." Finished George before high-fiving his twin and running after their Father.

Percy followed them with his chin high in the air, and his books safely tucked under his arm.

Percy stuck to his words and didn't touch a broom all day. Instead of flying, he sat down under one of the trees and spread all his notes around him.

Fred and George took off with Charlie right behind them, Arthur didn't even have time to remind them about the muggles in the village, so he turned to his three youngest and had his usual speech about safety and rules.

Jade jumped on her broom as soon as he told them to go and have fun.

She followed twins and Charlie, who were trying some really complicated patterns. Ron was flying slower than usual, he didn't want to get into trouble, because he was sure this time, the punishment would be much worse.

Ginny loved flying, but still needed a couple of lessons so her daddy taught her new tricks and Ron joined them too, because lessons with twins and Charlie weren't fun at all. They were trying out difficult stuff and he didn't want to concentrate that much.

Jade stayed with her older brothers at the distant end of the field.

Twins were glad they found new flyer so close to their own skills. It would be much more interesting to play quidditch now.

Charlie even offered to be her coach for the summer and maybe get her ready for team try-outs in two years when she could join school team but she said no.

And she said it so seriously that no one questioned why Jade didn't want to join school team. She, however, gladly accepted all the tips and tricks boys had to offer and her flying improved greatly even after only one day of practice.

They joined Percy in the shade under the tree and Arthur took out the lunch Molly packed for them.

Simple cucumber sandwiches with chickpeas hummus and tomatoes, with home made lemonade and brownies.

They had great time, talking and teasing each other over the lunch, even Percy put away his books (though he claimed it was only because he didn't want them to be stained with tomato juice and chocolate).

When the sun started to set down and all of them were worn out from all the flying and sun, Arthur said it was time to go home. None of them wanted to leave, flying was their favorite thing to do but with dad working all week they usually only had one opportunity on weekends if mom didn't make them clean something around the house.

Even Jade who was still getting used to the broom, felt like she could stay all night flying around the pitch faster and faster every round.

Percy, who left two hours earlier was now sitting behind the pick-nick table in the garden, quickly scribbling some letter. He had just enough time to finish last sentence, sign it and hide all the rolls of parchment away before Fred or George could take them.

"Dinner!" called Molly from the back door so twins let Percy be and hurried to put their brooms into the shed. They were always hungry, like all the boys on the world and even though they loved Hogwarts' cuisine, nothing could be compared to

mom's cooking. They were ready to eat, with bowls full of onion-cabbage soup with zucchini. It was one of Molly's special recipes for summer when her garden was full of vegetables.

Dinner was accompanied by numerous stories from school. Most of which were already known at the burrow from frequent letters from headmaster and professor McGonagall – the head of the Gryffindor. Listening to the other side of story, told from the perspective of their sons was quite entertaining, Arthur was giggling constantly and even Molly caught herself smiling a couple of times, unable to contain her usual scolding expression.

Jade soaked every word about the school and with every new detail she learned about it, it seemed like more and more magical place.

When one of the stories ended with classroom full of dragon dung on the day of final exams and that caused Ron to snort and get ice cream into his nose, it was time to finish the dinner. Molly knew it was the job of her two sons (even though they denied it, the glances they threw at each other told Molly she was right), but it was an old story, from first or second week of February and she completely forgo about it, after all, this wasn't their worst prank this year.

"Looks like we'll have a storm coming." Commented Arthur, putting dishes to the sink. And true to his words, first drops, as huge as snitches started to fall.

"My laundry! Merlin's pants!" exclaimed Molly. With all the kids out of her way since morning, she made today laundry day and lined of fresh clean clothes were hanging in the backyard.

Boys didn't bother with shoes, Fred and George run out with Charlie closely following them and started to pull down all the clean shirts and socks. Jade run out too with Ron, and helped everyone save the laundry, while Ginny and Percy run from door to the laundry lines and back, with heaps of clothes in their arms.

They made it in time, only a few dishcloths were left hanging in the last line, but Molly stopped Fred, just before he run outside to get the last pieces.

It was raining hard and they heard first thunder from behind the hill.

"Thank you darlings, you all saved my laundry day!" said Molly and showered them with kisses and hugs.

"Ok, go upstairs and change into your PJs then we can get the hot cocoa with ice cream and marshmallows on top. You all deserve a special treat tonight."

In five minutes, all seven kids plus Arthur were sitting in the living-room, snuggled under blankets or sitting on the floor pillows, drinking their special chocolate and talking about everything and nothing.

"So, Jade, I heard you've met your friend in the village?" asked Molly, sitting down on the loveseat next to Jade, who simple nodded.

"Did you know him for a long time?" tried Molly again, desperately wanting her newest daughter to open up a little.

"Well, we've known each other since kindergarten, but after three years I had to… move, and we haven't seen each other since." Sid Jade sadly.

"What is he like?" Molly wanted to know. She pulled out her knitting basket, to take a little bit of attention from Jade and made her feel less pressured.

It worked a little.

"He's awesome, he always knows how to make me smile. We used to talk bout everything, and he always reminded me to behave well, since I was getting into trouble a lot and he didn't want me to be sent away…" Jade talked and talked, Ginny, sitting down on the floor, stopped playing with her Harry and listened. She always imagined Harry would be exactly like that, maybe a little bit more rebellious, but in every other way, she imagined he resembled Bruno.

Ginny was a little bit jealous of Jade and her fiend, having what she thought to be a secret language.

"Will you teach me the…?" Ginny asked suddenly.

"Teach you what?" asked Molly confused, not aware her youngest was listening to their conversation.

"Teach me the secret language you have with Bruno." Explained Ginny, looking at Jade with pleading eyes.

"Well, I guess I could try." Said Jade, smiling a little. Small things like this made her feel like part of the family. Like she belonged and she was actually useful.

After a short while of silence Molly came up with an idea.

"Would you like to invite him over? Maybe for lunch on Monday?"

"Could I?" asked Jade, so excited she jumped off the couch.

"Of course you can honey, it would be marvelous to get to know your friend." Said Molly and giggled when she saw how excited her girls were. It was going to be a small party full of little ones. Ginny decided she needed her own friend over and asked if they could invite Luna too.

Later that night, when Molly was lying in her bed, going over her plans for Monday, she smiled again, remembering how excited Jade looked when they suggested the lunch, but at the same time it pierced her heart knowing Jade was still not feeling like at home. It will take time, she repeated to herself, but if they felt like Jade was the part of their family since always, Molly wanted her newest daughter to feel the same.

But she wouldn't ask if she could invite her friend over, she never asked for more food or new clothes at the store, never refused to get up, but now when Molly was thinking about it, she never even had to wake Jade up, it seemed as if the girl was always awake in the morning when she knocked on her bedroom door.

Arthur mumbled something what sounded like "stop worrying so much" and wrapped his arms around Molly and his steady breathing and light snoring lulled her to sleep.


	28. rainy sunday

**hey guys, sorry I didn´t write for such a long time but I was really busy with school, all I can promise you now is an update once a week - sorry, university is hard work especially 3th year... thanks for all the reviews and patience! :) thanks for reading**

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><p>They planned to take a stroll into the village and invite Bruno (and Paul if he wanted to) for pic-nic lunch on monday but that never happened.<p>

It was raining all night and even though it looked like the rain was stopping at around 5 when Molly put a fresh loaf of bread into the oven, another storm started just after six and it was in full force when kids woke up and shuffled down to the kitchen for breakfast.

Jade sat down on her usual spot and nibbled her slice of bread without enthusiasm.

She was looking forward to seeing her friend again today, but with dirt road leading from Burrow to the village full of mud and huge storm raging over the hills there was no way to get there. George suggested to send their owl with an invitation for tomorrow's lunch but with Bruno being a muggle and knowing nothing about magic they couldn't risk it. Apparition and floo was out of question too and Weasleys didn't have a phone.

Twins were planning to fly again today but mom wouldn't let them – there was a thunder storm outside and she didn't want any accidents involving her children and lightning (and knowing eorge and Fred, they'd get in trouble even without trying).

Ginny was pouting because they couldn't find her doll and her Harry was feft without someone to save. It was first week of summer vacation so neither Molly, nor Arthur were brave enough to suggest kids could do their homework and with so many people in such a small space it wasn't like they could do much.

Charlie was the only one in good mood and when last spoon was put down and last plate cleaned from breakfast toast crumbles he hopped up from behind the table and brought an old huge Atlas of World from the highest shelf in the living-room.

It was book so big, it could squash Ginny if she tried to lift it up herself.

„Hey dad, why don't you tell us about some far far away country?" suggested Charlie with a smirk, winking at his faher.

Listening to dad telling stories about exotic places where only muggles lived, or places with ancient tribes of wizards still living in the forest, could capture all Weasley's kids for a long time.

Right after Molly cleaned the table with wet cloth, Arthur opened the book and everyone leaned forward to see better.

„Let's pick the country, shall we?" suggested dad and they went through pages, looking for the best part of the world.

While Molly cleaned the kitchen and cooked her Sunday lunch they traveled around the world.

Kitchen was the warmest room in the house and even though it was usually unreasonably hot in summer, now it offered cosy place filled with yellow light and warmth from the fire, while sky was black and heavy rain drops danced on the window panes.

Molly didn't mind half of her children were still wearing pajamas at lunchtime, she happily looked at all her kids getting along, no teasing, no fights, everyone behind the table listening to their daddy just like when they were little.

Lunch started in the idilic silence of everyone sitting on their place content, but by the time they got to the desert (apple pie) Percy refused politely, because he had to finish his letter to ... a friend, twins took their plates and run upstairs, kissing thier mom each on one cheek as they went past her. Charlie was in a veery animate discussion about Ministry and their new corrections to the act about control of magical creatures.

Ginny climbed on Ron's chair and they were currently fighting over the big fork Molly brought long time ago from home when she got married. It was one of the kind fork (very unpractical but all the kids loved it for some unknown reason). Molly looked around the room – it was noisy and busy again, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

When she quickly moved Ron's plate with a slice of pie and Gonny's elbow hit the table at the exact same place where plate was before, she sent them away to the living-room where they could wrestle without smashing any pies or breaking glass.

Jade stood up and put stack of dirty plates from table to the sink.

„Thank you dear." Smiled Molly and brushed Jade's bangs to one side, the girl would soon need a haircut, she said to herself.

„Would you like to read something or maybe paint? Or if you'd wait for a while, I could show you how to crochet, but I need to clean the kitchen irst." Suggested Molly.

„Actually, could I borrow some book about the school? I've finished the fairy tales you borrowed me and I've put it back to the bookshelf in the living-room." Said Jade pointing in the direction of Ron and ginny who were now hitting each other with pillows.

„Of course honey, we should have an old copy of History of Hogwarts somewhere here, let me find it for you." Molly went to the living room, where she stopped for a while and pulled her two youngest away from each other.

„That's enough you two. You can finish your apple pie if you want to, or go upstairs and play in your rooms if you can't get along. Ron did you sort through your socks? I'll fixt the holes tonight so if you could bring them down to our bedroom." Said mom and looked meaningfuly at Ron.

Youngest boy of the family went through riddiculous amount of socks, even though he went barefoot outside-most of the time, he put on socks at night and somehow managed to make holes in half of them.

They run upstairs, making it a race about who will be there first and sort more socks.

Molly turned around handing Jade really thick book with old cover with broken edges.

Jade took it and smiled widely. Although she wasn't sure if she'll go to Hogwarts, because no one ever mentioned it, and even if she went, she probably had one more year of waiting as she would turn eleven in September and Ron told her you need to be eleven already when you go.

When she was about to go upstairs, one very wet and tired own knocked on the window.

Molly rushed to let her in and Jade turned around to go upstairs when she stopped her.

„Honey, wait, it's...for you, from Hogwarts." Said surprised Molly handing her the letter.

Jade took envelope which thankfuly didn't soak through completly.

She put down the History of Hogwarts and opened the letter with shaking hands.

Jade's POV

What am I so nervous about? They're probably just writing me to make sure I won't come. This was all just a huge mistake and I'm not a witch at all.

I felt sick, old unsecurities started to make their way to the surface of my mind.

Maybe they'll even send me away now, maybe it's even better this way, to be send away before I get too comfortable here.

I realized it was awkwardly silent. Arthur and Charlie stopped their conversation and they were looking at me with curiosity in their eyes while Molly nodded encouraging me to continue.

I broke the wax and pulled out a very thin parchment, with long lines scribbled over it in emerald green ink.

I started to read it out loud.

_Dear Miss Jadelynne Mraz_

_We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. _

_Because you will turn eleven this September, we decided it is time to invite you to our school._

_We will be happy if you decide to join us this September as we are sure you have all the skills needed to start your formal education, however, should you decide to wait one more year for the start of your schooling we will understand and happily wait for you one more year._

_Please take your time and think about our proposition. It is important decision and we want to be sure you made the right choice, that is why we would suggest you consult this with your parents or guardians. _

_We include a list of school suplies and books you will need for your first year._

_Please let us know how if you will be coming to Hogwarts this year before August 12th._

_Yours sincerelly _

_Albus Dumbledore_

_headmaster_

I looked up at Molly who now looked equally surprised as her husband.

„wow I was sure you'll stay at home one more year and start school with Ron. Well, we need to talk about this, what about yoou took the letter upstairs and we'll come to your room as soon as I finish cleaning the kitchen dear." Said Molly and smiled nervously at me.

I nodded and headed upstairs, Charlie followed me and caught up with me in front of my room.

"Hey Jade? Think it through, take your time and don't let anyone push you into decision. Mom would keep us all home forever if she could…" he chuckled "but if you feel ready to go then no one can top you, ok? They will support you no matter what you decide." He winked at me and run upstairs where I heard him use the secret knock on twins' room. I wonder how it's still secret if it's totally impossible for Molly and Arthur not to know it.

I closed my door behind me and let out long breath.

The air felt heavy in the small room so I opened the triangular window. Luckily there was roof over the window frame so the water didn't get in.

I sat down on my bed and put the letter down on the crocheted blanket Molly made for me before I even got here.

I loved my room. It was my first real room which belonged to me and I had my bed here and my little window and perfect view. I didn't want to leave. Maybe they didn't want to keep me, I knew that, but couple of days ago I gave up and admitted to myself that I didn't want to get rid of them. They might kick me out one day but until that day comes I wanted to enjoy every moment here. And now the letter came. This was perfect opportunity for them to get rid of me. It was a boarding school after all. I would stay there all year, maybe even during the vacation, maybe I didn't have to go back at all?

But I didn't have money to pay for it and if they weren't willing to give money for my education then maybe I should just refuse the offer and stay here, maybe for a year longer, but then what?

When I was about to start hyperventilating someone knocked at my door and slowly opened it.

Arthur peeked inside deciding if I was in a mood to talk or not.

I simply nodded, didn't feel like talking at all but this was their decision after all and it was killing me not knowing hat would come next.

They came in and Molly closed the door behind herself. She came right to me and gave me one of her famous hugs.

"Oh Jade, I know it's hard to decide…" she used my name instead of one of the pet names she had for her kids, so I knew this was serious.

"but I'm not sure you're ready to go, not yet, I mean, you just came here and now they want you in the school, I just don't know…" she shook her head sadly.

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><p>-so what do you think? should she go now or wait one year? let me know :)<p> 


	29. decisions decisions

**Hi everyone, thanks for commenting and adding my story to your story alert. You're all amazing!**

**Here's one short chapter, it's not long but some pretty important decision is made here.**

**Just a note: - I want to leave the story as JKR wrote it – nothing will change, Golden Trio will still be golden trio . I want to write this from the point of view of "normal" witch so no, Jade won't be part of golden trio, she might be their friend, Ron is her brother after all, but this is her story.**

**Also, I'm still not sure she'll be in Gryffindor, maybe, maybe not… any thoughts?**

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><p>I sat there waiting for someone to continue, I wanted to hear the "but" because now, I realized I wanted to go, no matter how much I loved it here, maybe this could be the first school where I would fit in.<p>

"Molly dear, we need to let her decide." Started Arthur and then turned to me.

"It's completely up to you Jade, if you want to stay here one more year and learn more about magical world it's fine. We would love to have you here one more year and I'm sure it would be great to spend more time with you before you go to school, but even if you decide to go now, we'll still have Christmas and Easter and Summer vacation. It's not like you would go away forever.

We will support you no matter what ok? And we love you so much. Understood?" he smiled at me and I nodded.

Molly opened her mouth as if she was going to say something but then her face relaxed and she smiled again, looking more herself.

"Do you have any questions about Hogwarts? I'm sure Fred and George told you a lot, but not all they say has to be true" she chuckled.

"So if I want to go, you'll let me?" I asked. I was totally lost, I had no idea what they wanted me to say.

"Of course we'll let you go, I'm sure you'd love the school and all your classmates" said Molly.

"but you wish I stayed here." I finished knowing what she'll say.

Molly sighed. "Honey, of course I'd love it if you stayed here, I wish I could keep everyone here forever, safe and sound tucked in their beds at night and feed you all properly every day and never let you grow up. But if you want to go, I would never stop you, but don't even think about staying at school during holidays." Smiled Molly and looked at Arthur.

"Jade, you don't have to decide yet, we just want you to know you have options and whatever you do, we'll be here forever. It's not like we'll send you to school and never see you again. You can go now, and come back on Christmas and all other vacation. Or you can stay here one more year, and then go to school with Ron. There's no rush, just think about it a little and when you're ready we can talk, or answer any questions." Said Arthur and stood up properly from the window sill he was leaning against.

Molly stood up too. "ok darling, I'll let you read, and don't forget to put away your clean clothes. I'll start knitting in an hour so if you want you can join me, I'd be happy to have some company." She smiled again and left.

"But you don't have to do that, Molly's just trying to find at least one of her kids who would share her interest in knitting. So far, we're all resisting." Arthur winked at me.

I laughed softly.

After he left and closed my door I shut the window and started to put away neatly folded clothes from chair where they were piled.

I loved the smell of freshly washed laundry.

After I cleaned my room I want to sit on the bed again and after re-reading the letter I opened the book and started to read.

It was truly interesting book, but I couldn't concentrate. After looking at the same page for 8th time, I skipped couple of chapters and found a section describing Hogwarts now.

It sounded magical and very unreal, but still like the kind of school where I belonged. If all kids were witches and wizards there, I would no longer be a freak and would never go home with a note from the headmaster for making something inexplicable happen during lessons.

I closed the book and looked around my room and even though I was used to being alone all my life now I felt too lonely.

I pushed away the book with letter and stood up, my bare feet hitting the cold hardwood floor. I pulled out a pair of thick hand knitted socks from the bottom drawer and opened my door. As I climbed the stairs I went past twins' room where they were fighting over something with Ron, Charlie was in Ginny's room, playing some board game with his little sister and they giggled uncontrollably so I didn't want to disturb them. I was about to turn around and go back to my room when Percy came out from the bathroom and found me standing there in the middle of corridor, doing nothing.

"Hey." I said quickly and pushed past him trying to get to my room as fast as possible.

"Hey." Replied Percy and was about to get back to his bedroom and write just another letter for Penelope but he knew there was something on Jade, something odd.

"Do you want to talk about something?" he asked slowly.

Jade turned around and nodded.

"Come on in then, well, if you want to talk to me." Invited her Percy and stepped into his room leaving the door open. He sat down on his chair and started to arrange the parchments on his desk.

Jade followed him, but stayed standing in the doorway.

Percy looked around and raised his eyebrows.

Jade came inside and sat at the end of his bed.

"Well?" he asked simply.

"Well. I got a letter this morning." Said Jade and looked at him, trying to find some sign he knew about it. She thought Molly will tell it to everyone, but Percy just looked at her confused.

"A letter from Hogwards?" Jade asked. He still didn't move so she continued.

"They say I could go this year or wait one more – because you know, my birthday is in September. And your parents say it's up to me to decide…"

"And you're not sure if you want to go?" asked Percy.

"No, I mean… I would love to go, but… your mom said she'd like me to stay here one more year." Explained Jade.

"Listen Jade, our mom would keep you here forever if she could, but it's just now, because she's always worried when one of us goes to school for the first time. But she'll get over it and once you settle in school and you find new friends she'll be happy with you. If you feel like going then go." Said Percy and folded his letter he finished just a couple minutes ago.

Jade nodded quietly and looked at her hands.

"You're nervous?" asked Percy gently.

"um, uhum. " agreed Jade but still didn't look up.

"well, I know how you feel, I was nervous too, and I'm pretty sure Fred and George were terrified the first day, of course they pulled first prank before the train even left the King's cross station, but that was just to cover how scared they were. There's nothing to worry about, first days are hard but they go by really fast, and you'd love Hogwarts." Concluded Percy and nodded firmly, making sure Jade believed him.

"You'll be just fine, you said you want to go, then you should go downstairs and tell mom. Ok?"

"ok." Said Jade and stood up. "thank you Percy, thanks for listening to me." She smiled and left.

After washing her face in the bathroom sink and looking at herself in the mirror for a while, she went downstairs, pausing on the last step before she crossed the last couple of feet and joined Molly in the living-room. Jade sat down next to her and bit her bottom lip, something she didn't do very often, only in situations when she was really stressed and had to concentrate.

Molly paused, sliding the stitches to the end of the needle and putting it down on the coffee table.

"I'm so happy you're here, so would you like to show me how to knit, or crochet? Or do you want to talk?" Molly posed so many questions.

"I… I think I want to go." Said Jade simply and looked up nervously, prepared to see angry Mrs. Weasley. But Molly wasn't angry, a little bit surprised that Jade decided so fast, but happy at the same time, because she knew how much her newest daughter needed friends who wouldn't push her aside.

"Oh honey! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you." Exclaimed Molly and made a move as if she wanted to hug Jade but wasn't quite sure if she should because it looked like Jade wanted to say something.

"Really?" was all the girl asked.

"Of course! Come here!" laughed Molly shaking her head and pulling Jade into bear hug.

"But if you really go this September than you'll have to study a little bit more and learn all you can about our world, I want you to be prepared." Said Molly seriously.

"Arthur! Arthur come here!" she called her husband, who appeared on the stairs just a couple seconds later.

"Arthur she wants to go!" exclaimed Molly, still hugging Jade and wiping happy tears from her cheeks. Her baby was all grown up. She knew Jade for such a short time and now she was already going to school.

"That's awesome! I'm sure you'll love it there." Said Arthur a patted Jade's back, because Molly just wouldn't let her go.


	30. Mraz family

**Hi everyone, thanks for the reviews! Here's another chapter, I apologize for making you wait so long but like I said –busy with school, snowboarding and spinning wool…**

**I hope you'll like this chapter as much as I do…enjoy!**

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><p>Molly finally let Jade go and smiled happily.<p>

"Alright dear, but that means we'll have to start some real lessons soon. I thought you'll have one more year of homeschooling, but if you'll go in just a few months then, I'm afraid you'll have to keep studying during summer vacation."

She was waiting to see some sign of disagreement in Jade's face but it never came.

Of course Jade wanted nothing more than running outside with her new brothers and Ginny all summer and just pick endless rows of strawberries and make apple puree and fly on their Quidditch pitch, but learning new things about her world which she didn't know until recently, well, she couldn't complain about that either.

"Let's see…" continued Molly, "we'll start tomorrow, I'll make a curriculum for you so we have some plan about all you have to learn, don't worry dear, if we work hard you could have most of the August completely free." Said Molly and picked up her knitting.

Jade leaned back, resting her left hand against the pillow. Wow, she was really going to go. That meant new friends, new school and endless possibilities. She smiled for herself and let out the breath she was holding.

"Can you teach me how to knit?" asked Jade and chuckled when she saw Molly's eyes light up. She felt wonderfully light and happy, like nothing could stop her now, and her new life was beginning and it might be a little bit better than the first part of it.

Molly picked up the biggest pair of needles she had, and a ball of mustard yellow yarn. "Is this colour ok honey? I have some brown and dark green as well but this one is thick enough for these needles and it would go fast." She asked and Jade nodded, scooting closer to see what was the next step.

Molly taught her how to cast on and do the basic grater stitch, explaining that if Jade could knit the piece long enough, they could fold it in half and stitch the sides together to create a simple hat, Jade could actually wear once the winter came.

It was quiet in the living room, except for the sound of raindrops hitting the windows and slow music coming from the ancient radio in the kitchen. Molly was smiling, not really paying attention to her knitting, but already planning first lessons for Jade.

They wouldn't be hard, just the basics she should know about history, and rules and just some basic spells (without actually casting them, of course) to make the first couple of weeks easier.

Jade worked on her hat with enthusiasm at first and when she learned the stitch well enough, her mind started to wander and she already saw herself wearing school uniform and writing on the blackboards.

She wasn't sure about the school itself, as she didn't have time to read the book yet, but so far she liked it.

Dinner was ready sooner than she realized and when everyone came downstairs Jade put away her knitting, which was now almost five inches long and shuffled to the kitchen. After delicious meal and awesome almost sickly sweet desert, Molly announced that Jade got a letter from Dumbledore and she decided to go to school this September.

There was a moment of complete silence, followed by loud cheering and congratulations. Twins wanted to know if she thinks she could be in Gryffindor, Ron asked if he could go too and pouted when he was told to wait one more year, Percy was violently shaking Jade's hand and Ginny hugged her sister from the side. Charlie of course knew already, he heard his parents talking about it, so after congratulating Jade he used the opportunity when no one looked and sneaked another portion of the cake with thickest layer of icing.

Week-end was over before anyone really noticed, Arthur went to work in the morning and when all the kids climbed down the stairs to get their breakfast, Molly gave everyone huge slice of bread with rich creamy butter and cheese, then opened all the windows and top half of their backdoor to let in as much sun as possible. After couple of rainy days in a row, everybody was ready for the sunshine.

Breakfast wasn't even over and Fred with George were already pulling on their rain boots, running out from the back door with half eaten bread in their hands, surely going on a hunt for some new ingredients for their fireworks and whatever else they decided to make. They turned around and waved at Jade to follow them but she couldn't. Today was the first summer school day and she was sure Molly wouldn't be impressed if she skipped the lessons before they could even fully start.

She shook her head at them, whispering apologetically "maybe next time".

George nodded and turned around, ready to go on, but Fred stayed a little bit longer, making sure she won't change her mind and when he saw Jade was serious he smiled sadly and followed his twin.

Ginny and Ron were sent upstairs to get dressed because, as always, they were still in PJs.

"Ok, Jade, I have to finish cleaning the kitchen and put the cake in the oven so you have some free time now but we should start your today's lesson in twenty minutes or so, that way we can be done by lunchtime and you can go down to the village with everyone. I thought maybe we could invite your friend for the pick-nick on Wednesday. The grass should be dry by then, what do you think?" said Molly and started to put away clean dishes which washed themselves in the sink while she was talking.

"It sounds wonderful, do you want me to put the plates away while you do the rest of the work and we could start earlier?" asked Jade taking one of the plates and putting in on it's place in the cupboard.

Molly smiled at her and pulled out big bowl with dough, which was rising since morning, now ready to be spread on the baking sheet.

She put plums and peaches on top and sprinkled it with icing sugar before opening the oven and putting it inside.

Ginny and Ron were already running around the garden, chasing the gnomes.

Jade sat down back on her place behind the kitchen table and waited for Molly to come back from her bedroom. She came carrying two books and some blank parchments and quills. She set it all down on the table and grabbed a bottle of ink from the kitchen windowsill.

"We could practice writing with quill today, it's not too hard, but Arthur said it takes some time to get used to, if you were writing with muggle-made pen all your life. And you'll have to write really fast at school to take good notes during the lectures." Explained Molly and handed Jade one of the smaller, less intimidating quills.

Jade took it awkwardly in her right hand and dipped the tip in to the ink bottle.

"I can read you some basic spells you'll be learning during your first few weeks at school, and maybe you'll remember them later and it will be easier to do your homework once you're asked to actually learn them." Said Molly and started to read from the list of basic beginner's spells from one very old book. It belonged to one of the Twins now, she wasn't sure which, because they had this annoying habit of signing all their books "F. and G. Weasley" because the reason of their life seemed to be confusing people as much as they could.

The book itself, was in a very very bad condition, and Molly secretly hoped the other copy would be in much better shape, if she could find it of course (it seemed to be nonexistent right now), because Jade would have to inherit one of them.

Writing with quill is harder than it seems, you run out of ink all the time, and then if you dip the quill too much, you make a huge ink dot in the middle of parchment. The tip gets stuck in every single bump if you press it too much, or slides too easily if you don't press enough, it makes some letters fat, some very thin. It took Jade almost an hour and whole list of basic spells to master the art completely, but once she knew how to do it, her writing was really neat and even.

Molly put down the book and went to the fridge. She pulled out big glass bottle of fresh lemonade and poured them two glasses. Then she took two plastic cups with lids and straws and after filling them with lemonade and some ice she took them outside to her two youngest. Fred and George were nowhere to be seen, but Molly knew they'll come back in time for lunch, no matter how important their secret plans were, they always included a break for food in them.

"Alright now, I thought it would take you much longer to learn but look at you!" Molly praised Jade's writing skills and sat down again.

Jade was drinking her lemonade beaming with pride.

"We could go over some history now, jut the latest events you should know." Said Molly seriously and it took her next two hours to go over all the details about the war against You-know-who, she also explained Harry Potter's story and Jade was happy to learn something more about him. It was a sad story about boy who lost his parents, and she could relate, not having her parents herself, now when the name finally belonged to real boy, not just to one of the dolls in Ginny's collection, Jade wondered who was that dark wizard and why he could just walk around and kill people without someone stopping him. She knew her parents were killed, one of her foster parents mentioned it once, but it didn't matter to her. She didn't care why her parents died, all that mattered was that they were dead and she was left alone, missing them every single day. Now, it was different, she was starting to realize they might have been victims of the war. But why would some wizard kill muggles?

"They did it just because they could, some families with "pure blood" believe they are more important than muggle-born wizards or muggles. It's nonsense, and no one had right to do what they did to your family, to Harry's family and to many others. That's why it's important to learn about it and never let anything as terrible as The War happen ever again." Explained Molly and caressed Jade's hand.

"It's just so unfair. I want my mom and dad back, I should be at home right now, we would be family and I wouldn't have to go from one place to another every time the foster parents decided they no longer wanted me! It's not fair." Exclaimed Jade and covered her face with hands, trying to muffle her sobs.

Molly wasn't sure what to do. This is the talk she was afraid of. The important talk their social worker warned them about – talk about biological parents. Molly stood up and pulled Jade up from the chair, leading her upstairs to the master's bedroom.

The room wasn't big, it wasn't even the biggest room in the house but it had that magical atmosphere in it. It was clean and smelled of roses which were climbing up the east wall of the Burrow, around Molly's bedroom window. There was one big bed with quilted comforter and one big wardrobe standing next to the door, one tiny vanity table and full-length mirror in the corner. Molly gave Jade box of paper tissue and sat her down on the bed before closing the door.

She pulled out huge manila envelope from bottom drawer of the wardrobe and asked:

"honey how much you know about your parents?"

Jade looked at her in awe, she knew the envelope, it was the same one which social worker carried from home to home when Jade moved in or out. Foster parents always went through it but never let her read a single letter or see single photograph of all the documents which were in it.

She always thought it was the biggest injustice in her life when everyone else knew more about her past than herself.

Molly pulled out a pile of papers, and quickly went through the first few pages before she found the picture she was looking for.

It was an old black and white photo of two people holding tiny bundle in their arms. Smaller woman with darker hair and round face was smiling at the camera while tall blond man with short hair and visible stubble on his face looked lovingly on his two most precious people on the world. They were family.

Molly gave it to Jade and then came back to the first page and started to read. That was Jade's birth certificate, stating she was born in Curraclough, tiny village in Ireland. So she was Irish? Not that it would matter much, but why didn't anyone ever tell her?

There were names of her parents, Oliver Mraz and Lynne Mraz (born Desmond).

These were simple facts but Molly read the names and place of Jade's birth with so much love and respect that somehow, Jade couldn't be mad at her for knowing all this before she did.

Molly read the report about the death of Mraz family. It was simple list of dates and places and it was closed case, saying they were killed by an explosion, probably caused by criminal, unknown man, seen entering the house where Jade and her parents lived, just before the explosion.

No other information and investigation didn't lead anywhere.

"I'm sorry dear, I'm so sorry they couldn't catch him and make him pay for what he had done." Said Molly and hugged Jade who was silently crying, still looking down at the photo of her dead parents.

"I'm sorry, so sorry." Repeated Molly over and over gently rocking both of them as she used to rock her babies when they were hurt and crying.

None of her kids though, she realized, ever cried for such a terrible reason.

They sat there, together, looking at other pictures which police collected from family album, hoping to find some suspicious family "friend" or relative who had connections with illegal companies and could be the reason Mraz family was killed but they found no one so the photos stayed abandoned in Jade's file all those years.

Molly explained all he knew, read all the documents, but they weren't really important for Jade. Old police reports and lists of similar crimes which happened in the area, all crossed out from the list one by one, as the criminals were caught and cases closed, until Jade's parents' murder was the only one left. Jade didn't care about police letters and words she didn't understand anyway. For the first time in years she saw the faces of her parents, she saw their love for her and she knew their names. Finally there was proof they existed and they wanted her and they didn't want to leave her. She knew who she was.

Molly let her keep the photos but kept her birth certificate and all the legal documents in the envelope.


	31. picknick

After putting the photo of her parents between the pages of her journal, Jade went downstairs to get some lunch. She felt strangely at peace. After crying for half an our on Molly's lap and looking at the faces of her parents, she realized self-pity won't help and she was sure her mommy wouldn't be proud of her if she spent the rest of her life locked in her room crying over her parents.

Jade knew they were watching over her from somewhere, and sometimes when she knew something, it was true.

Jade didn't remember anything from the first few years of her life, but she knew she always felt alone. And that's what she missed the most – someone who could take care of her and let her be a child.

Now she had Molly, and Arthur, and they said it was forever and even started the adoption process, and suddenly the tiny little seed of hope, which was hidden deep inside Jade's heart started to grow. It grew slowly, and it will take years until she'll be able to trust them fully, but for how, this little bit of hope was more than anything she ever had.

Don't get your hopes up, there's still the possibility of adoption disruption after all. She told herself and promised herself she would do her best to finish all her chores in time and never do anything bad.

Lunch was fine, no one questioned where Jade and mom were all morning because they knew Jade was supposed to study hard this summer if she wanted to go to Hogwarts this September. Twins ran inside the kitchen just in time for the soup which was served with garlic bread.

"Mom, dad called through the floo and said he stopped by Paul's house and his parents said it would be ok for Paul and Bruno to come tomorrow if we're still going to have the pick-nick outside." Announced Charlie and smiled when he saw how happy Jade was when she heard news about her friend.

"Sure, tomorrow would be great, here Ginny, send and owl to Lovegoods and invite Luna" said Molly and passed Ginny a piece of parchment and a quill.

Jade spent afternoon with twins and Ron who were searching for new ingredients because the fireworks they were preparing for the b-day party still smelled terribly, although, the smell changed now to sulphuric red smoke which lingered in twins' room for three days until their mom discovered it and threw everything out. That was a week ago, and boys have decided it's safe to try again now.

They didn't talk much because it was hot again, sun was beating on their heads and no one felt like keeping long conversations.

When sun was setting down, Fred and George returned to their room with bag full of new samples for their experiments while Ron, Ginny and Jade stayed behind swinging in the hammock, tired after the hot sunny day.

There was just a little bit of purple clouds left on the horizon when Arthur returned home. He worked long hours to earn a little bit more for all the school supplies they'll have to buy soon.

Molly greeted him at the door and after quick kiss she sent him upstairs to wash his hands.

"Jade, Ginny, Ron!" she called the little ones. "Dinner's ready!"

Three of them jumped out from the hammock and Ginny almost fell down, but she was too tired to protest or get angry.

Charlie came downstairs with Percy, passionately discussing some international matters and clearly they both agreed about stupidity of the newest international law about transport of magical creatures out of the Europe.

Molly shushed them and served everyone huge portion of baked potatoes with bacon and cheese. As diner was later than usually, because Molly always wanted to wait or Arthur, everyone ate really fast and most of the boys asked for seconds.

Just before everyone went upstairs to get ready for bed, the owl knocked on the window and delivered a note from little Luna, saying how excited she was for tomorrow and how she would bring her new necklace she made with her mommy today.

With a promise of wonderful tomorrow everyone went to bed and even though Molly was still worried about tomorrow and about Jade and all the bags Fred and George were hiding in their room, the rest of Burrow's inhabitants doze off fast, including Arthur who was starting to snore.

Next day started late and it was complete chaos. At first the alarm clock didn't ring at 5:30 like every morning, and while Arthur tried his best to pull on his work robes and tie his shoes, Molly burned his toast and instead of sugar, she put salt into his coffee.

She never knew of course, because Arthur bravely swallowed the drink and kissed her on the way out. It was almost eight and kids started to shuffle to the kitchen.

Molly quickly put bread on the table and one jar of this year's strawberry jam. Percy yelled at Ginny for spilling apple juice on the newspaper before he had a chance to read it, Charlie was scribbling some note to his friends who invited him for some kind of reunion and incidentally dipped his quill into the butter. Ron was asleep again, drooling on the table and Fred poured last bit of milk while George had the last portion of cereal in his bowl. Thank Merlin they compromised and had half of the milk and half of the cereals each.

It looked like it's going to rain and Ginny was sadly looking out through the kitchen window.

"Don't worry, you can still have the pick nick lunch inside if it rains, and we'll just pretend you're in the restaurant." Tried Molly, but it didn't cheer Ginny up.

She wanted pick-nick outside because it was the only kind if pick nick that counted.

Molly couldn't put up with all the whining and arguing so she sent everyone upstairs and told them to read or clean their rooms or whatever.

She would normally make them all help with the lunch preparation but the truth was, she could have in all done faster if there were no eager little hands wanting to help.

The menu was simple, Bolognese sandwiches, cucumber salad and sweet lemon pie with whipped cream.

Plates were ready as well as big jug filled with watermelon strawberry flavoured water.

Molly pulled out big table sheet with blue and green flowers and set it in top of the pile of comforters which she had ready for the pick nick outside.

It wasn't even 11 yet, but first rays of sunshine peaked through the clouds and air went from pleasantly chilly to heavy and hot in a couple of seconds.

Molly put the drink back in the fridge and when she turned around, she saw Paul with Mike and Jacob walking up the hill. There was also one boy she didn't know, it had to be Bruno, but he kept his distance and silently followed the group of boys.

Molly was about to pull out few more plates when boys reached her kitchen door but Paul stopped her.

"Good morning Mrs. Weasley." He said politely.

"Hi Paul, it's nice to see you, I didn't know you'll bring more friends, but – the more the merrier – right?" she said and put two more plates on the table.

"Well, we won't be staying for lunch, Jake is going to play Quidditch with his brother so we'll go with him, but Bruno's going to stay if that's ok." Said Paul and pushed Bruno forward. The boy smiled shyly and looked at his shoes, finding them very interesting all of the sudden.

"Well, of course he can stay, does your mother know you'll be going with Jacob?" asked Molly a little bit worried. She thought it was quite rude from Paul to leave his cousin with someone he didn't know, but she didn't mind at all. Bruno seemed like a very nice and well behaved boy, she was sure they'll manage without Paul.

"Yeah, mom said I can go as long as I bring Bruno with me, but then he explained he'd like to go here and so mom said I have to bring him to your house first, and then pick him up later." Said Paul and nodded towards his cousin.

"Good bye Mrs. Weasley, I hope you won't have any trouble with Bruno, he doesn't do much, just give him some book to read." Said Paul and followed his two friends.

Molly looked down at Bruno who was still staring at the ground. She hugged him with one hand and patted his shoulder reassuringly. She led the way inside and called Jade.

"Jade honey! Bruno's here!" she said and soon there was someone running down the stairs. Molly pointed to the staircase and Bruno looked up just in time to see Jade jumping from the last step right on him and giving him a bear hug, something she learned from Weasleys.

It was quiet reunion, no one said a word but both kids were signing really fast and both of them laughed, Jade with bubbly laughter of pure happiness Molly didn't her from her before, and Bruno with quiet but clear laugh.

Molly just smiled and handed Jade one comforter, telling her to go put it outside on the bench so it would be ready for lunch.

Jade took it but Bruno snatched it from her arms and gestured for her to go first, such gentleman, thought Molly and turned to the stairs to call the rest of her kids down, but she stopped herself and decided to give Jade some time to catch up with her friend.


	32. brave

**I am so sorry for making you wait this long for another update – school is hard this semester… here's another chapter, thanks for all the reviews and adding story to your favorites it means a lot to me and I'll try to update more often now. Also there's some action coming in next chapter – I have it all planned, there's just no time to write. Thanks for being patient….enjoy!**

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><p>The pick-nick was a huge success. Little Luna came an hour after Bruno and she showed up wearing purple dress with bottle-green crocheted vest on top and she was sporting the new necklace she made out of butterbeer corks.<p>

Molly was worried at first – after Paul's comment about giving Bruno something to read and he'd be fine for the rest of the day.

There weren't any muggle-safe books in Burrow, of course she could give him the Tales of Beedle the Bard, but he seemed too mature for fairy-tales.

As it turned out, nobody needed books that day. Jade made a beautiful job at including Bruno at all the games they played, she and Ginny showed him around the house, while Luna sat at the kitchen table and told Molly about her plans for summer.

Luna was a strange little girl, Molly thought, she didn't really care if people were adults or her age, of is they were strangers or close friends, Luna always found a way to start a conversation and she could keep talking for hours if you let her. She was the only child, but she grew up with Weasleys, with them living so close and Ginny being her best friend, Luna knew the Burrow well, and she didn't consider the tour interesting enough, that's why she was in the kitchen talking to Molly.

They ate outside and played by the pond. Molly wouldn't let them swim , because water was still too cold from all the rain they had lately. Twins came back from their stroll around the woods and closed themselves in their room.

Molly promised herself, she'll make them spend more time outdoors – but they were out since breakfast so she let them be and continued her dinner preparations.

Percy was studying again, but he did came down to take his sandwich and ask mom if she needed any help.

Charlie kept kids company for a while but he too had some assignment for school which he was supposed to send to his teacher by next Monday, so he spent most of the afternoon buried in textbooks.

…

Arthur came home to find a group of exhausted kids sitting on the ground under the tree, some of them were completely passed out except for little Luna who was happily chatting away with Ron. Just as he came to the kids and bent down to straighten the sunhat on Ginny's head, Xeno Lovegood opened the back gate and called his little one.

"Oh she could have stayed longer, it's no problem at all. I'm sure Molly has too much dinner ready for everyone. Why don't you stay?" suggested Arthur, but Xeno politely declined with small bow, explaining that their family was leaving in few days and there was still a ton of packing to be done.

Little Luna waved them good-bye as she let her daddy to lift her up on his shoulders.

"Ok everyone, listen carefully now. I'm taking mom on our anniversary date tomorrow…" Arthur started but before he had time to finish the sentence all the Weasleys' kids but Jade, seemed to lose all interest.

"No, really guys listen I need you…" Arthur started again but was interrupted by Ginny whose voice came muffled from underneath the hat she pulled over her face again.

"yeah, yeah, dad, we know, be responsible, listen to Charlie, help mom in the morning and go to bed in time. We know the speech."

Ron nodded and started to chew on a straw he pulled out from the bush.

"Very well then, I'm glad you remember, but this time I'd prefer if you would behave, we don't need to come back home in the morning and find you all sleeping on the living-room floor, surrounded by cards from exploding snap and candy." Finished Arthur and tickled Ginny's tummy because she looked like she was falling asleep again.

"Let's go everyone, time for dinner." He said and picked up his youngest, throwing her over his shoulder and then pulling Ron up by his ankle making his shirt crumble around his head.

"Dad! Put …me… down!" Ron managed to squeak between fits of giggles, as his father carried him over to the back door, giving Jade and Bruno some more time alone. He would go back home soon and Merlin knows when the two of them will see each other again.

"Arthur put him down this instant!" Molly's face appeared in the kitchen window as she waved at them with large wooden spoon. Ginny, go upstairs and bring me your hair brush, you might as well look like a human being for dinner tonight." Then she turned around and they heard her calling up the staircase "Fred! George! Dinner! Percy, put down the book and come here to eat! Charlie!" and just when Arthur walked inside to kiss his wife and ask about her day, Charlie run inside holding a letter in his hand. "Bill says he'll be coming next week for twins' birthday party!" he exclaimed and snatched a cookie from the plate that was cooling by the window.

"Oh that's awesome…" said Molly, looking really tired. Ginny came back downstairs with her comb and big pink ribbon asking for one braid. Jade and Bruno came inside as well and kitchen was starting to be full so Arthur quickly kissed Molly and run upstairs to change really fast before dinner, running into Percy and almost knocking him down the last four stairs.

"Fred! George! If I'll have to come up there and drag you down for dinner and I find you working on one of your crazy projects making mess in your room, you'll be without dinner for the rest of the summer!" yelled Molly while she smoother Ginny's hair and braided the thick pink ribbon in it.

"There you go honey, now everyone sit down and help yourself." Said Molly smiling at all her children plus Bruno who asked Jade to tell her mom Thank you, for having him over today. Arthur came down too and filled his plate with cauliflower mash and sautéed squash.

They didn't have much time after dinner, when Paul came to pick up his cousin. Molly let Jade go with them , but only to the post box, it was getting dark and she didn't want her getting lost in the forest.

It was a tearful good-bye, Paul said that Bruno's mom called this afternoon and said she'll pick him up tomorrow morning, because they were leaving for vacation.

The kids hugged and promised to write each other, now when Jade had permanent address.

She stood by the post box, pealing off white flakes of paint from the iron post, until boys disappeared behind the nearest group of trees, where the road turned to the left.

Jade angrily wiped her eyes, this was nothing like her – crying as a little baby, she never cried and she wasn't going to start, not now when her life was starting to be nice. She didn't want to upset Weasleys. Adults always seemed upset or annoyed when they saw her cry. So she wiped her face one more time with the sleeve of her t-shirt and turned around, putting on a brave happy mask for the sake of her new family.


	33. date night

**Thank you ****xizzy92x**** for your beautiful review :) **

**Thank you ****PerfectlyObscure**** for adding my story to your favorites**

**And ****angel2u**** – I have someone in mind – for Jade – in the future but I'm not telling…but I'm open to suggestions as I'm not 100% sure , or you can try to guess…**

**.. and thanks to all of you who are reading.**

**Here's another chapter…**

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><p>Next morning was busy, all the kids had to stay in kitchen after breakfast and listen to their mother's monolog about responsibility and safety and about all the means she could use to find out who broke the rules and make them pay. It was slightly scary speech but Molly wasn't going to risk anything, she was tired of getting her mood ruined after coming home from her fantastic date night and year after year find her children either covered in candy or burnt-off eyebrows (one of Fred's and one of George's) or sleeping in the biggest cauldron she had in her kitchen (Ron – but somehow it was twins' fault, she was sure about it but no one ever proved it).<p>

After the lecture everyone was given little job from peeling the potatoes for lunch to picking up all the dirty laundry scattered around the house.

Molly cooked lunch and prepared a plate full of sandwiches, which she placed on the top shelf of the fridge, trying to save them for kids' dinner.

Arthur was going to pick her up at four and she wanted to be ready. It was rare occasion, two of them going out alone and Molly planned to fully enjoy it .

After quick lunch on the porch, she did the laundry and asked kids to hang it outside on the lines while she went upstairs. It wasn't a fancy preparation, no long hot bath with bubbles, candles and Witch weekly, no quiet music in the background and no cleaning mask for her face while she would chill in a fluffy bathrobe, relaxing before the big night. No. Molly took quick (mostly cold – because hot water was used for the laundry) shower, scrubbed her face with new bar of soap and curled her hair. She put on her old bathrobe from school times, it was everything but white and fluffy, and run to her room. It was half past three and no time for nonsense. She put on her pretty floral dress with blue flats (Molly was never one for high heels) and the last touch of her lipstick just when she heard a bell from downstairs.

It was Arthur, he always made fuss around their dates and today was no exception.

He was standing downstairs by the front door, rarely used, ringing the bell which only chimed once every year – always when he came to pick her up for their night out. He had his best robes on, holding beautiful red roses, and smiling wiely when he saw her coming down the stairs.

Kids were hiding behind the corner of the house, silently giggling on the way he tried to flatten his hair on the sides.

Molly ran across the hall, closing the last few feet of distance between them and kissed her husband fully on lips. There was a choir of "eeews" and "yucks!" heard from their little ones but neither of them cared.

Arthur carried her overnight bag to the car he borrowed from ministry, sometimes it was great to have friends on the top posts.

He opened the passenger's side door and waited for his lady.

"Well, be good and try not to blow up the house. Charlie, there's address on the fridge in case of emergency just floo…Ginny, Ron, Jade, bedtime's at 9:30, Fred, George, Percy 10 p.m. sharp. Charlie…" but Charlie interrupted her by turning her around and pushing her by her shoulders to the waiting car.

"Don't worry mom, we'll be all here tomorrow morning, safe and sound, and Burrow will be standing as still as it is now." He winked at dad "You don't have to hurry back home tomorrow, I'm sure I can manage some breakfast for everyone, or we'll just have cereal and milk."

He kissed his mom on her cheek and closed the door behind her.

"There's plate of sandwiches in the fridge for dinner, and …" the end of the sentence was never heard by Weasleys' children because the car took the turn to the left and disappeared with their mother still sticking out of the window.

As much as Molly tried to enjoy the day and only think about her beloved Arthur and herself, she couldn't help but worry.

…

Twins enjoyed non-supervised afternoon by taking their firecrackers outside still experimenting with additional ingredients to cover the awful smell.

It was nice change to have enough fresh air after another smelly explosion instead of hiding in their tiny bedroom surrounded by green smoke.

Percy looked at them disapprovingly but said nothing. He might strictly follow the rules all the time, with a broom stuck up his but – as twins would say, but he would never tell on his brothers.

Jade tried to help them, suggesting a couple random things, but finally giving up and taking the book with one roll of parchment ink and quill to the pick nick table to copy the spells Molly gave her as homework.

Ron and Ginny played in their mud-pie kitchen by the porch, not really wanting to have that stinky smoke in their noses. Charlie was writing a letter to Bill and Percy was reading as usual.

Time flew by and when Charlie announced it's time for dinner, they sat down on the porch hard-wood floor and waited for him to bring the huge plate out.

He set it down to the middle of the circle they formed and took one sandwich for himself.

This was the kind of moments Jade liked the most. No worries, nothing, just her family sitting outside watching the sun set down, while trillion of flies buzzed over the pond and garden gnomes cursed quietly in the bushes. It was one of the unsolved mysteries how they could pick up the curse words but never learn to talk properly or understand anything at all.

It was calm, warm summer night.

"Let's take the laundry inside in case it rains tonight." Suggested Fred – in sudden flash of responsibility, that didn't occur too often, but that's just because he tried to control himself, for being too responsible could cause them to lose their reputation.

When all the socks and underwear were inside, waiting in the large laundry basket to be sorted tomorrow, Charlie took down the photo album from top shelf in the living room and sitting on the couch, opened it on the first page.

Everyone else piled around him, waiting for their favorite part of parent's date night. They always got to see the wedding photos. This was the first time for Jade and she looked on every image with great concentration, wanting to remember every detail, see every face and every flower captured on the black and white moving photos.

At 9:30 Charlie closed the album and put it back to the place.

"Everyone go up to bed. Brush your teeth and put on PJs I'll come check on you in a minute."

"O-K Mom!" said George sarcastically, "will you kiss us good- night?" added Fred and run upstairs as Charlie pretended to chase after them.

"Percy, put down the book, you heard mom, 10 p.m. sharp. Do you need me to came check on you too? You know I'll do it." Pressed Charlie looking at his brother from underneath his eyebrows.

"fine, fine, I'm going" sighed Percy and folded his glasses.

…

"Good night Jade." Said Charlie as he opened her window for the night. "it looks like we'll have some heavy rain tonight. It should cool down the air." He smiled and waved at Jade who was already falling asleep although she was fighting it. "Go to sleep Jade." Charlie whispered as he closed the door behind himself and went upstairs to check on Ron and Ginny.

Jade tried to keep her eyes open but she couldn't. Tonight was the night when she was supposed to stay awake to keep the nightmares away tomorrow when she'll fall asleep and stay knocked out for the night. She had to stay awake, but maybe she could just close her eyes for a while, no she won't fall asleep, she'll just….

...

Charlie woke up in the middle of the night. Storm was raging behind his window and there were flashes of bright light illuminating their yard, while heavy streams of rain water whipped the overgrown grass on the hills.

But it wasn't thunder that woke him up. It was that high pitched cry coming from downstairs.

He has never heard anything this scary and sad at the same time.

It was cry of small frightened child mixed with sad heavy sobs of very old soul who has seen terrors no human should ever face. He has once heard banshee cry, it was at Hogwarts, long time ago, yet he could remember it like it was yesterday. And this sound, coming from downstairs was million times worse.

He jumped out of bed, snatched his wand from the bedside table and run down, bare feet, white tank top, blue striped undershorts and all.

As he neared Jade's room the cries became louder and he hesitated for tiny fraction of second outside her closed door. Afraid to look in, fearing what he might find, but at the same time anxious to get in and help his little sister he pushed the door open and send a steady ray of light in the direction of Jade's bed.

And there she was, screaming and trashing, fighting with tangled covers, her cheeks covered in tears.

"What's happening?" came tired voice from behind Charlie's back.

"Stay here." Ordered Charlie in Percy's direction, trusting him to keep all the little ones who might come down out of Jade's room.

He flicked his wand and soft yellow light filled the room.

"Jade?" he tried cautiously, although he wasn't sure she could hear him through the cries.

"Jade wake up." He said more firmly, sitting on the side of her bed.

"Jade." He shook her by her shoulder and kept calling her name until she woke up suddenly, sitting up and almost hitting her head to the side of the roof.

"Jade it's ok, it was just a dream." Charlie tried to calm her down but as soon as she overcame the shock, new tears appeared in her eyes and spilled over her wet eyelashes.

"It was them, They will come and take me away! And Mom and dad are dead!" she cried and shook violently, the look of pure terror in her eyes.


	34. train ride

**thank you so much :**

**PerfectlyObscure, **

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**LyndsayMalfoyRiddle, **

**purplepanda357, **

**angel2u (and no...it's not George...) , **

**and also Anonymous,**

** for leaving really nice comments, and adding my story to your favorites and to story alert and me to your author alert...I really appreciate it a lot guys! **

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**enjoy!**

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><p>"<em>It was them, They will come and take me away! And Mom and dad are dead!" she cried and shook violently, the look of pure terror in her eyes.<em>

"what's wrong with mommy?" scared and now whimpering Ginny asked, her own tears running down her cheeks.

"I want mom and dad to come back, this is not fun anymore." Added Ron seriously and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"Don't worry guys, mom and dad are absolutely fine and they'll be back in the morning." Said Charlie trying to save the situation. He was determined to give their parents a break, and not call them unless it was absolutely necessary and bad dreams hardly qualified as emergency.

Ron and Ginny didn't seem to believe him and the fact that Jade was still crying silently didn't help.

Charlie sighed and wiped his face with his palm. He was far too tired to think about anything.

"Let's just go to bed." suggested George and very exhausted looking Fred agreed.

But Jade seemed to panic at the idea, not wanting to stay alone again with the storm still on.

"Ok, Fred, George, will you stay here with Jade for a while?... I'll be right back." He added when Jade grabbed his arm desperately.

Charlie let the light on in the room and picked up Ron who seemed glad to have someone to hold him and make him feel safe. "I want mom to come home." He confessed silently whispering into Charlie's shoulder.

"I know buddy, but we'll be fine, she'll come home with dad in a couple of hours."

Percy who was already holding Ginny in his arms followed his older brother upstairs.

"Percy? Can I sleep in your room tonight?" whispered Ginny, her voice still shaking.

"sure you can, but there's nothing to be scared of, you know that right?" he asked silently carrying Ginny to his room and setting her down to the middle of his bed where she curled under the covers.

"I know." Said Ginny seriously, "but still, it's nicer down here." She claimed and snuggled closer to Percy.

"I don't want to sleep in my room when Ginny's not up in hers. It's too far away from everyone." Complained Ron and hugged Charlie's neck with all the force he had.

"Well…alright, you can stay in mine, but only tonight." Agreed Charlie and smiled when he saw Ron relax a little bit.

He left his little brother in his room and came back downstairs.

"Ok now, Jade, do you feel better?" he looked at her sipping some water from a mug one of the boys brought her from the kitchen.

Charlie had to suppress a chuckle when he imagined how their mom would react to the sheer idea of water in a mug_. Mugs are for tea and coffee and glasses for water and juice_. She taught them, repeating it over and over until all her kids learned the rule and automatically grabbed a glass when getting some water. The education somehow skipped the twins, not that she didn't try, but one could only do that much before giving up, and as all forms of education seemed to avoid the twins Molly realized this was not the hill to die on and let them be.

Charlie never understood why it's so important, but no one ever questioned their mother's rules.

Jade nodded lightly, feeling a little bit better now that the hiccups from crying were gone. Charlie pulled up her covers and set the mug on her desk.

"Go to sleep Jade, it will be fine in the morning. No more bad dreams right?" Charlie pushed a strand of hair from Jade's forehead and stood up from where he was crouching.

"Ok boys, let's go to bed." He started but although Jade was watching him with big eyes so far, now she grabbed both twins by their shirts, not letting them go and new silent tears began to run down her face.

"Charlie, I think we'll stay a little bit longer." Said Fred looking Charlie straight in the eyes giving him no space for arguments.

"Yup, we'll stay and chase all the monsters away." Nodded George and winked at Jade.

"There are no monsters, and I don't think it's time for that kind of remarks now…" said Charlie looking ad Jade as she grabbed the twins with even bigger force.

"Well, certainly no monsters in this house…"started George, "but have you ever seen McGonagall after reading out project on "Why goblins wars finished and peace returned to their nation" and we've stated "because they got all drunk and forgot what they were fighting for and drunk creatures are friendly as hell so they all became friends" as our one and only reason? Well, that my dear brother looked much like monster to me." Finish Fred and high fived his twin.

"Alright boys, but don't be up too long and let Jade sleep. I'll leave the lights on in the corridor." Said Charlie and left, leaving the door open just a crack and moving the misty light from Jade's room to the hallway with one little flick of his wand.

…

When Molly and Arthur returned from their date at 8 a.m. they found silent Burrow. No one to be seen. Molly walked quietly up the staircase, stepping over the squeaky stair, closely followed by Arthur carrying both their bags.

But when Molly looked into Jade's room, checking if she was still asleep, this was not what she expected to find.

Jade was sleeping alright, but on each side of her was one red-headed boy, snuggled comfortably under the covers as the air was still chilly from the rain.

"Fred! George!" Molly whisper-yelled furiously. "what are you two doing down here?"

George woke up and looked at his mom confused. He tried to sit up but Jade was still holding the collar of his shirt in her right hand and she stirred a little when he moved.

"Molly let them sleep, I'm sure they'll explain everything later." Said Arthur as he pushed his wife out of the room and looked seriously on his son.

Then he turned around and left, closing the door behind him.

Fred snuggled back to the pillow only half awake and got one more hour of sleep before everyone woke up.

Jade sat up on her bed, feeling too tired considering how long she slept. She was alone in her room, pile of clean laundry from yesterday waiting on her desk chair.

She got up and opened the window a little bit more, the wind had to close it at night.

Sun was already high on the sky and she saw Ron and Ginny hanging out by the hammock while Percy was reading yet another book.

Jade put on her favourite jean cut-off overalls and white tank top. She was loving this hot summer in the country (compared to grey gloomy London).

She didn't bother with shoes, no one seemed to care around here and skipped down the stairs to get some breakfast and see if she could help with something before starting her today's lesson.

There was a voice coming from downstairs, it was Molly, giving a rather angry speech.

"…if the social services found out! Do you realize it could influence the court's decision about the adoption? What were you thinking? Don't you know the rule that foster kids can't have mixed bedrooms? No boys sleeping in girls' room? What were you thinking?" yelled Molly while Fred and George tried to protest that they didn't know because she didn't tell them before.

"The social workers won't care if we consider her our daughter already! They have rules and they're watching us like dementors waiting for the tiniest mistake to take Jade away!" cried Molly and furiously snatched boys' plates from the table.

"Mom, Jade had a bed dream. More like a nightmare, I'd say." Started Charlie.

"I couldn't get her to calm down and it was late and everyone was out of bed. No one wanted to do anything bad for the adoption, it's just that… if Ginny had a bad dream none of us would hesitate to comfort her and let her sleep in our room that night. That's what big brothers do." He finished, looking at his mom.

"alright then. Just don't do anything like that again, we don't need someone to take her away before the adoption is complete. Matilda is already doing all she can to persuade the adoption agency to let her stay here as our foster child while we finish the paperwork." Said Molly more calmly and let the boys go.

The adoption process was usually less complicated if it went only through Adoption department at the Ministry of Magic but this time the muggle social services got involved and it complicated the whole thing, with Jade's history of unsuccessful placements they weren't going to make another mistake and let her in a home where she wouldn't be taken care of. There were few homes like that in the past and if something happened again it would be huge scandal and it wouldn't escape the attention of public. No one wanted that, neither magic, nor muggle agency.

Jade slowly came downstairs pretending she didn't hear the conversation.

She knew she had bad dream at night, she remembered crying and being scared but she couldn't remember what it was about.

She let it be, like always, trying to close all the bad memories in the back of her mind.

"Good morning dear, would you like some cereal with milk or bread?" asked Molly, worriedly looking at the black circles under Jade's eyes.

"Cereal's good, thank you." Said Jade and sat down.

No one did much that day. It was nice and hot, but another storm started in the evening which gave Jade more time to study and Molly even said she could be done in two weeks if she continued this way.

After uneventful day came another crazy night when everyone woke up at three in the morning and again, Ginny and Ron ended up sleeping in rooms of their brothers, scared and sad at the same time.

Jade had another nightmare. After being up last night because of the first bad dream she woke up tired, so tired in fact that tonight she fell asleep again – after fighting to stay awake until two in the morning.

Fred and George run downstairs but Molly was there first. She woke Jade up, brought her cup of hot chamomile tea and send twins back to bed.

After calming down however, Jade wouldn't let go of Molly's arm, so the two of them snuggled down together and Jade was lulled to sleep by the sound of Molly's voice, quietly telling her the tale of three brothers.

Another night with few hours of sleep led to the next one with another nightmare and so on. It was a kind of chain reaction which made Arthur put a muffiato spell around their masters bedroom and Jade's room so the rest of the house could sleep while he and Molly could still hear Jade scream at night and be there for her when she had another bad dream and needed them.

…

it as the first week of august.

The train pulled out of the station and Jade was sitting in the seat close to the window, but she didn't see Arthur or Molly waving her good-bye and yelling "I love you" countless times. She didn't see Molly put her head on Arthur's shoulder and cry silently when the train started to move. Jade had eyes full of tears, as she sat on the plush magenta colored seat hugging her knees.

She wasn't alone in the compartment of course, there was one very strict looking old lady accompanying her – the same social worker which came to pick her up from Burrow a couple of hours ago.

Jade knew this wouldn't last, she knew something will go wrong from the very beginning and Weasleys will send her away eventually.

Molly said it's only for a couple of weeks and Arthur promised it's nothing permanent, and that they didn't want to do it but they had to…something about the rules of the adoption agency.

It was always the same. Same excuses and promises no one ever kept.

As Jade looked out of the window, light rain started to fall and the drops on the glass copied tears which finally spilled out of her eyes.

It were the nightmares every single night. Jade was sure about that. What the hell is wrong with me? She thought. If she could only remember what they were about maybe she'd find a way to stop them.

Maybe it was that she got involved in Fred's and George's project and helped them find the last ingredients. Lemon grass as something zesty to cover the smell and ginger to nicely compliment the tint of explosion powder. She shouldn't have done that.

Maybe they realized she just didn't fit in when Bill arrived and they had the birthday party for twins, and she obviously didn't belong.

Maybe…

The rest of the train ride was filled with "what if" and "maybe" thoughts and reflections about the last couple of weeks.

So next time I can do better. Jade told herself but the truth was she didn't want any next time. Because Weasleys were different.

For once, she stopped trying to get rid of them before they could get rid of her. Actually she tried really hard to stay, to make them want her. But it was a mistake, another huge mistake as every single decision in her life. And as the train stopped in some unknown station and the old lady from social services grabbed Jade's hand in her cold dry palm, it seemed as if all happy memories from Burrow disappeared.

"And so I'm an orphan again."


	35. Bill

**Ok, as it seems to upset many readers, let's just say that George and Fred had their b-day party in summer because they wanted to celebrate with family and not just their friends at school – would that be ok?**

**SparkBomb'sFaith**** thanks for the review! Do you really want to know who's it gonna be? **

**I could tell you but then it would destroy the magic of waiting and hoping ;) **

**And thanks to everyone who's subscribing and adding me to your favourites etc. you're awesome.**

**Enjoy**

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><p>After brief explanation from the headmistress of the orphanage who told her that social services had to take her here because there were some issues with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley paperwork, she was rushed to the empty dining hall and one of the caretakers brought her plate of food. Jade didn't eat dinner they gave her, and after saying Thank you, very politely but firmly to the lady who was waiting for her, they didn't insist.<p>

There was something powerful in the way she said it, and left no place for discussions.

They took her upstairs to the bedroom on the first floor. It was rather late and most of the kids were already in bed and those who weren't, quickly sprinted across the room and jumped under the covers when Jade and the caretaker came in.

It was warm and humid and there was no wind coming from open window, or silent voices from twins' room upstairs. No one got up to bring Ginny a glass of water, and most importantly Jade wasn't home.

She hugged the blanket close to her, turned around and buried her face in the pillow.

She missed them, and it was a strange feeling which she've never felt before.

This night there were no nightmares, because there was no sleep for her.

She cried and cried, silent sobs muffled by the pillowcase drenched with her tears.

It was scary, because for the first time in her short life she really cared about what was going to happen next.

And if some miracle happens and she would see the Weasleys again, she would beg them to take her back, Jade no longer cared about herself, she didn't need to keep her dignity now, because she was just a little scared girl ready to beg and cry for her family to take her back.

She still wasn't sure what happened, what was so horrible that they decided she had to go away.

Jade remembered the days after the first nightmare, when Molly looked tired and worried all the time, when she came to Jade's room every night to wake her up from the nightmare and then stayed with her until she fell back asleep. But after some time, Jade hopped back to her old routine and slept only every second night which seemed to keep the bad dreams away.

Then there was the day Bill came home…

…

It was sunny morning as most days this summer, with bright sunshine and fresh baked bread.

It would have been another lazy day, if Bill wasn't supposed to come today.

"Mom relax. He won't care if every single tile on the kitchen floor is polished and I'm pretty sure there's no need to wash the front steps, we don't use them anyway." Charlie grabbed Ron's shirt-collar and pulled him back from where his mother sent him to wash the stone-steps.

"I know, I know. But it wouldn't kill you if you helped a little with the cleaning would it now?" answered Molly and pushed Ron with bucket of soapy water and brush in the direction of their front door.

"Girls! Ginny! Jade! Come here I need you to fold and sort the laundry and then could you take it to everyone's bedroom upstairs?" Called Molly and started to polish the plates.

Jade and Ginny took two huge laundry baskets full of clean clothes and set them on the floor outside. They sat on the porch swing, each on one side and started to fold fresh clean sheets, forming neat little piles in the middle of the bench.

Fred and George were de-gnoming garden. It seemed to be bigger problem lately, when the colony of garden gnomes spread to the further corners of Molly's vegetable garden.

Everyone was busy when suddenly green flames flashed inside the fireplace and dusty and a little rumpled looking boy stepped outside, bringing generous portion of ashes with him, which later settled on the living-room carpet.

"Bill! Oh Bill's here!" they heard Molly calling from the inside.

"Bill's home!" exclaimed Ginny and dropped the shirt she was folding back on the pile.

Jade jumped up and followed her inside, but she got almost run over by Fred and George who pushed her in through the door.

There he was, the last Weasley Jade had to meet.

He was tall with piercing blue eyes and signature red hair. Ginny as already sitting on his shoulders while Ron tried to pull her down and take the VIP place.

Charlie was hugging his brother and very sentimental looking Molly was standing by the sofa, clutching wet tea towel to her heart.

"Bill! Bill!" came two identical exclamations and Jade was run over, this time literally, by two eager twins who joined the group hug.

Normally Jade would stand by the wall and wait for someone to call her but she has changed.

She has changed a lot and she was feeling much more secure and confident here that's why she did the unthinkable and Jumped on Bill's side, pushing between Fred and Charlie hugging her newest brother. She felt his hand on her shoulder as he hugged her closer and heard as Ginny squealed when Charlie pulled her down from Bill's shoulders.

It went smoothly as if they knew each other forever – same as with all her brothers, so it wasn't really surprising.

They talked, listened to Bill's stories, answered his questions and enjoyed Molly's apple pie. Lazy morning with light lunch later, and then they were all send to the garden to pick up few stalls of rhubarb which was ripe now, for Molly's famous rhubarb-beer jam. She made it last year, when Arthur brought home a crate of dark Muggle beer, and as excited as he was about that muggle drink and the beautiful (according to his words) brown bottles with all the funny labels, he couldn't make himself drink more than one glass.

It was nothing like the butter-beer he loved. It was bitter and it gave his tongue tingles.

He finished the first glass just for the love of muggle things, but he couldn't force himself and drink the rest.

That's when Molly stepped in and pulled out the muggle cook-book Arthur once gave her.

And there it was, a recipe for rhubarb-beer jam, which became family's favourite.

They pulled apart the stalls of rhubarb in warm summer sun, watching rows of garden gnomes walk back to their burrows.

Then Arthur came home and Bill came inside to talk to him, and the rest of the kids just stayed outside in the garden, snacking on the last strawberries they found, or the first blackberries which were still sour and hard but blue enough to be claimed as ripe and picked by impatient kids.

…

there was nothing wrong with that day…thought Jade, going over every detail of the day in her head, lying on the bed in the orphanage, alone, all the other girls were outside, enjoying warm day and cold drinks which caretakers prepared.

Nothing wrong with that day, but…I didn't study. I was supposed to study in the morning and I didn't. I played with Ginny outside until Molly called us in and gave us the laundry to fold.

Cold sweat run down Jade's back.

But it wasn't bad enough to be send away was it? And then it hit her. It wasn't one big thing, just addition of small mistakes she made. And that gave Jade another chill, before she fell down to her pillow again and cried as if there was no tomorrow.

…

Meanwhile in Burrow.

Molly was sitting behind kitchen table, stacks of papers, parchments and forms all around her.

It was Saturday so Arthur was home, but instead of playing with his kids he was sitting by his wife, with glasses on his nose, carefully filling out yet another formulary.

It was only yesterday when he came home from work and found a social worker – a very unfriendly looking muggle lady, sitting in his living-room, waiting for him to come home. Jade was sitting in his chair and Molly was kneeling in front of her, holding Jade's little hands in her big motherly ones. Talking silently, although, Arthur was sure about that, Jade couldn't hear her.

The social worker explained something to him but he didn't understand half of it, so she just told them Matilda Jones will be in touch with them as if was her case. Then she stood up and extended her hand towards Jade.

His little Jade who was sitting there looking over Molly's shoulder straight into his eyes. She looked like little baby, looking for someone to do something, anything.

And he could always find solution, he was always there to save the day, but not this time.

And the look of absolute terror mixed with disappointment on Jade's face when he told her she'll have to go for now, but they'll come and get her as soon as possible, broke Arthur's heart.

Jade didn't wait after that. If he told her there's nothing to be done, then there was absolutely no hope and so she went. Picked up her backpack and brown paper bag with sandwiched Molly packed for the journey. She didn't take the lady's hand, but walked in front of her with her trembling chin held high.

There was Charlie and Bill outside holding confused looking Ron and crying Ginny on their arms. Even Percy looked sad and Fred and George tried to hex the social worker but Arthur managed to snatch their wands in time, so they just hugged their mom from each side and looked as the taxi drove away their sister.

That was the worst day of Arthur's life, so now he was here working as hard as he could, filling all the forms, studying all the rules and laws about adoption muggle and magical, trying to find a way to bring Jade back home before the adoption would be complete.

And when Matilda came in, with a handful of heavy books and notepads, Weasleys had a neat looking Dossier ready to be approved by her department in Ministry.

"Molly, I'm so sorry, I didn't know the muggles were still on this case and there are more issues which we didn't know about, the parents of Jade had a will and it concerns Jade, but it was in one old folder and they didn't dig it up until now, when the public relations with muggle side of the ministry got involved …" started Matilda but Molly stopped her with big bear hug and got up to make her some iced tea.

"Thank you Molly. So there's that will, and the thing is…." Started Matilda before pausing and looking up on Arthur and Molly who were staring at her expectedly.

"The thing is, Jade inherited some money from both sides of her family, it's not much, just enough to put her through Hogwarts and a couple of years after, but they think… considering your…ahm… financial status… that you might want to get custody of her to get a say in what the money's spent on. I know it's…" but the rest of the sentence was lost in Arthur's angry cry.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he yelled at Matilda. "Tell them to keep the money, Jade can have them when she's of age. Tell them I don't care about stupid galleons, just give us Jade back!" Arthur sat back down on his chair and covered his face with his hands.

"Matilda, honey, there has to be something we could do, to get her back before the court, it's going to kill her being away from home and not knowing what's going on. They won't even let me write her a letter." Cried Molly but Matilda shook her head.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing to do, we'll just have to wait for the court in two weeks, when they'll decide about the adoption. Then you'll be her legal guardians and no one would be able to take her away." Said the young woman looking sadly at her friend.

"That is, if they decide to allow the adoption." She added silently and got up, taking all the paperwork she needed to approve in her office. And with a sad smile and a little wave she left.


	36. judge Casey

**Thank you ****angel2u****, ****Aims5****, ****PerfectlyObscure****, pancakeatebatman for your reviews! I love knowing what you think about the story so far !**

**Don't worry, things will get happier soon, it's just that adoption isn't always 100% cheerful, well, it's never – it has the sad part about loss, anger and trust. There are lots of emotions involved and there will be for a long time, even after the adoption process is finished so just be patient with Jade and give her time to get through this.**

**Thanks everyone for reading and adding my story to your favorites! there will be no update for at least two days - school stuff - fingers crossed - I have to finish this term...**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Another week was a blur, Jade didn't do much, she didn't make new friends, she didn't go outside, and she didn't eat, at least not much – always just enough for the caretakers to stop bugging her. She spent days lying in her bad, staring at the ceiling and going over every single day at the Burrow in her head, trying to find all those little mistakes, which she would never repeat and she'd apologize for them if she ever saw Molly and Arthur again.<p>

She didn't find many so far, just minor mischief and few misunderstandings which could be easily repaired if she was given a chance. But then there was the day of Fred and George's birthday party…

It was only few days after Bill's arrival so the house was still fairly clean from the big homecoming polishing and de-gnoming so Molly gave kids some small jobs in the garden before sending them outside to read for a while before lunch.

The plan was to surprise twins with party with their friends, whole family and a couple of neighbours, but it wasn't entirely a surprise as they found out it was going to be today. So when they were sent away to go to the village and play in the park for the afternoon, everyone knew what was going on and there was general excitement in the air.

Molly had beautiful birthday cake prepared, it was chocolate with vanilla ice cream filling and purple fondant on top. They had sparkles on top and candles too. And banners and twinkle lights were put up (more then usually). The big kitchen table was now standing next to the picnic table with all the chairs and benches Molly could find in the house.

Arthur came home earlier and helped her set everything up. Big pitcher of strawberry flavoured water and bowls with celebration dinner were ready, waiting to be served.

They had fried chicken and roasted potatoes – twins' favourite, and sliced veggies with sour-cream onion dip. There were party hats and confetti ready on the table.

Arthur wrapped the presents in shiny gold paper. They didn't have much for boys, each of them got new school book – brand new, with shiny bras corners and clean white pages. Two matching red shirts and Arthur added a pair of new Quidditch gloves to each package, reassuring Molly that he has saved the Quidditch shop owner whole lot of money by helping him with a muggle football shirts he's decided to sell in one section of his shop as time-limited offer and he had no idea how the teams were named and how the football worked. "So after explaining it to him and helping him with the exhibit he was so happy he gave me a gift card for two galleons! I just had to add four sickles and two pairs of gloves were mine. Molly they'll be so happy, you know how they're always talking about joining the Gryffindor Quidditch team this year." Said Arthur with pleading eyes and when he saw Molly smile a little, he tied the last ribbon on the parcels and got up from the floor.

"They'll be happy, you'll see." He winked at her and kissed her loudly on her lips.

As the party time came and all the guests started to come, Charlie and Bill brought everyone back home, but under strict directions they came in through the front door and went right upstairs to freshen up and wait for the party to begin.

Ginny put on her pink skirt and matching pink-white striped tee with huge fabric flower headband and as Jade wanted to look nice too, she pulled out her new blue dress from Molly and carefully put it on. Her hair was growing out but it still wasn't long enough for her to braid it without help so she just let it down.

They came downstairs and joined the crowd that formed around the tables.

Everyone was getting a little bit impatient because twins weren't coming, and when Bill was about to go and check on them, a single spark, glowing with golden light flew up to the air. There was a second of silence before it exploded and formed beautiful golden-silver flower up in the sky, perfectly contrasting with the purple sunset sky.

The fireworks then split in two and flew around in circle, making all the guests gasp and move in closer to the centre of the yarn, as the sparkles flew a little bit too low.

The two parts of the fireworks crashed into one another right in front of the back door with loud bang and ton of dark grey smoke and Fred with George appeared in the door way.

Everyone applauded, kids admired the fireworks and adults were more relieved that nothing caught on fire so they clapped as well.

Molly looked furious, but when she saw how proud her sons looked, she couldn't help but smile. There will be time for speech and extra chores for misbehaving later.

Everyone loved the food. It as delicious and the ice cream cake cooled everybody down.

After opening the presents and thanking everyone for coming the party was cut short because of another storm coming.

Weasleys had just enough time to hide the last piece of cake and leftovers in the kitchen when heavy rain started to fall, and it continued through the night.

Next day however, it seemed that all the excitement from the party got washed away with the storm. Together with breakfast, there was a long speech about safety, responsibility and listening to one's parents. It went on forever and although Molly didn't keep the rest of the kids in her kitchen, they could still hear it from the porch.

And in sudden rush of bravery, Jade decided it's not fair to let them suffer two weeks of extra chores alone and she stepped inside to confess she too, helped with the fireworks.

Fred and George tried to deny it and save her from mom's anger but Jade wouldn't take it.

So she too got two weeks of chores and now that she was thinking about it, she still had more than a week left, as the punishment was interrupted by social worker coming in and taking her away.

Jade wondered how was the life in Burrow now. What was Ginny doing? Did she miss her? And what about Ron? Are they all still hanging out by the hammock and spending mornings in the garden in search of any forgotten strawberries?

That's when she remembered how they installed the hammock with Arthur and Ron and Ginny when the rest of the boys were still at school, and a lonely tear escaped from the corner of her eye.

Jade also wondered if Bill and Charlie are still at home. They were supposed to leave week after the party, and even though she tried to count the days, it was impossible, they all seemed like one long nightmare.

…

Life at Burrow wasn't as idyllic as Jade remembered it. Due to the numerous sheets and forms that needed to be filled as soon as possible, Molly left all the work around the house be and concentrated purely on that. Arthur worked long hours to earn extra money for all the adoption fees and with both parents occupied elsewhere all the kids got bored and grumpy.

Somehow burrow didn't work without Jade, she was part of the family and it was impossible to live there without her.

Every time Molly came upstairs, bringing fresh laundry or chasing kids down for dinner she had to go around Jade's bedroom and every single time she broke down in sobs.

The atmosphere was terrible, so when the day came and Molly with Arthur were ready to leave for court, everyone was more than excited to be done with this and have Jade back. Molly never talked about the possibility of coming back home without their newest daughter and she couldn't imagine that version of the story so when she got into that borrowed ministry car and clutched Arthur's left hand in hers, he could feel her shaking violently.

…

Jade was dressed in her blue dress, it was nice enough for her to wear it to the court.

"You won't even go to the court room, you'll just stay in smaller room and talk to the judge. She'll ask you some questions and you have to answer them. Don't lie, just tell the truth and you'll be fine." Said the social worker that came to pick her up.

"Is Molly and Arthur going to be there?" asked Jade silently. She wasn't sure if he wanted to see them, what if she apologized for everything and they would still tell the judge that they don't want her to come home back to the Burrow?

"yes, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley will be there, you won't see them though, unless the judge decides that they can legally adopt you. That's the policy, now you're in care of the country and we can't have strangers hanging around you. You now the stranger-danger rule don't you now?" asked the lady smiling at Jade.

"but they're not strangers, they're family." said Jade and looked out of the car's window.

They had air conditioning on because sun was already up high and there were no clouds today.

Jade was walked into one tiny room with elegant grown-up furniture and she was told to wait for the judge.

Young looking man, in white shirt and dress pants walked in with a plate of salted crackers and small bottle of orange juice for Jade, telling her it will take a while.

After 40 minutes a kind, smiling woman walked in, wearing long black robes, similar to those Jade saw on wizards in Diagon alley, she was muggle though, so Jade didn't mention anything about wizards to her, just in case she didn't know about them yet.

"Alright Jade, how are you today?" she smiled at the girl and sat down on the chair next to her.

"I'm fine, thank you…your honour." Answered Jade silently, quite scared and unsure how she was supposed to talk to the judge.

"Oh don't worry about the titles, I'm Cassey. Now, I've been talking to the Weasleys in the court room and they looked like a nice family. Did you like it at their house?"

asked Cassey taking one of the crackers and popping it into her mouth.

"Yes." Said Jade shortly, but when the judge continued to look at her she added: "they are really nice, you know, but I messed up as usual, and so they had to send me away. It's not their fault and maybe, if you'd let me see them for just a little while, I could apologize and all would be fine again."

Cassey looked confused now. "You messed up? Did they tell you that?"

"Well, no, they said it wasn't my fault and that they don't want to send me away…but…that's what adults always say – right? I mean, I always mess something up and get into trouble and then they always tell me it's not my fault and that it would be better for me to live somewhere else so.."

"Oh dear! That's not the reason at all! You see, there's a trust found set up for you – it was set up by your parents even before you were born, and there's quite a lot of money. So we had to take you away from the Weasleys and make sure they're not keeping you with them to get to that fund. I'm so sorry, I thought someone would have told you already." The judge smiled sadly.

"Well…and were they?" asked Jade, with total chaos in her head.

So they want me? But for the money? But they really want me back? And I didn't mess up? What does she mean, I didn't mess up, I did all those bad things and …

"No, of course they didn't. As it turned out, they didn't even know about the money and Mr. Weasley is willing to transfer the money to another fund which would only be accessible for you when you turn of age, because now if we go through with the adoption, the old fund would be open to them as your guardians."

Jade didn't understand half of the things the judge said to her but the most important thing, she understood.

Weasleys wanted her for who she was, for the first time ever someone actually wanted her because she was Jade.

Could it be true?

But a little voice inside Jade's head told her all the adults are the same. They would send her away again eventually but for now she could go back to the Burrow and enjoy the it for the time they were willing to keep her.

And this time around there would be no mischief, no trouble, just studying, chores and absolutely no nightmares. She'd have to be careful.

"As you'll be 11 soon, we would need your consent before I say yes to the process. So the question is…" started Cassey, "do you want them to adopt you? Do you want Weasleys to be your forever family?"


	37. forever?

**Sorry guys I let you wait for so long, I didn't mean to, but life got in the way and …well, here I am – and here's another chapter – it's short, I know, but I wanted to close this matter an have a new day to start with in the next chapter (hopefully tomorrow)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade hesitated. It wasn't because she didn't want Weasleys as a forever family. She wanted them, very much indeed, but she wasn't ready to trust them again. Actually she didn't feel like she'll ever be able to trust completely again.<p>

"Jade?" the judge urged.

"Y-yes…yes I think I do." Said Jade quietly but seriously.

"Alright then, would you come with me to the court room? It won't take long, I just have to announce my decision and you'll be able to go back home. Aren't you excited?" asked Casey with wide smile. Jade smiled shyly back but didn't say anything.

Was she excited? Of course she was happy and that tiny bit of hope left deep inside her heart started to grow ever so slowly. Perhaps, they did want her after all.

When judge entered the courtroom, everyone stood up and squeak of joy echoed from the direction Weasleys were standing.

Jade looked up, for a fraction of second before looking back on her old sneakers.

There they are, Arthur wearing his muggle suit and Molly standing next to him, squeezing his arm in absolute glee at the sight of their little girl.

Molly wanted to go right then and hug Jade, and tell her again that now everything will be fine and no one ever would make her go away, but Arthur stopped her, looking meaningfully in the direction of judge.

No one was later able to repeat the words the judge said, because all official phrases were forgotten in the happiness that followed immediately after Jade was declared the daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. There were many congratulations and hugs and tars of joy (from Molly of course).

After everything settled down, Arthur suggested they head back home as Burrow was a long way from London, and it was almost lunch time.

The air was unusually warm. Bright sun shining, already high in the sky and absolutely no wind.

They all climbed inside the car Arthur borrowed from ministry again and for next couple of hours Jade listened to his mumbling about how they should get a car, because they're quite useful and Molly's questions about the days Jade was away.

But Jae didn't really want to talk about it, not that she had something to talk about for that matter – what was she supposed to tell them? That she spent the days lying on the bed, crying herself to sleep or tell them about the nights she stayed awake to keep the nightmares away and how lonely and desperate she felt? No, she'd never tell them.

The sun was hanging low over the horizon when the car finally stopped in front of the Burrow.

The house was the same, still dangerously leaning to one side, with few chickens running lose around the front garden and overgrown grass all around. But it somehow looked more magical now – at least for Jade. Maybe it was just the golden glow from sun setting down or the fact that after endless days spent in muggle orphanage, Jade was finally back in the world where she belonged.

Molly asked Percy to take everyone away on a trip for the day as she didn't want them to be waiting around the house and jump on Jade the second she came back home, or in the case that Jade wouldn't… Molly couldn't even think about the other possibility.

Jade kicked off her sneakers in the mud room and slowly climbed the stairs up to her room, turning around twice to seek approval from Weasleys.

She wouldn't do anything wrong again, from now on, she decided, she'll work hard so they'll want to keep her as long as possible.

Molly nodded encouragingly at her, following her newest daughter upstairs.

When they reached the small landing and Jade opened the door to her room, she was happy to see that nothing changed. There was still her bed and the crocheted blanket and sun was still shining through her triangular window, although it would set down soon and the sky was already turning pink.

Jade turned around and smiled at Molly, not knowing what to say.

"Thank you for taking me back." She finally managed to whisper, her long prepared speech about being good and obeying all the rules, and begging them to keep her was forgotten when she saw Molly's eyes glister with tears.

"I'm so happy to have you back honey, forever. I'll never ever let you go again – you know that right?" said Molly lightly hugging the girl.

"Yes, I know." Answered Jade, who saw how much Molly really cared about her, or at least she wanted to believe that she did.

"I'm sorry I've missed so many days of studying, and that I didn't help out with chores, I mean, I couldn't when I was away, but I'll do everything now, I promise…" started Jade again, feeling a little bit more brave now when she saw how happy Molly was to have her back.

"Don't worry now, dear, don't you worry about silly things like that. You have two more weeks of summer at home, that is, if you still want to go to Hogwarts this year, so just enjoy the vacation. You've studied enough for one summer don't you think?" smiled Molly and turned around to go back down to kitchen and heat up dinner.

"Kids will be back shortly and we'll have dinner in about fifteen minutes, I'll let you to freshen up and come downstairs when you're ready." Was all that Molly said and disappeared.

Jade sat down on her bed and let out the big sight she didn't know she was holding in her.

It felt strange to be back. It was nice, but odd. Like coming back to your family, only you weren't really home and they weren't really your family, they tried to pretend they were but…

"Yes, they are your family, at least for now Jade, so stop mourning and start acting like it, you can as well enjoy it while they keep you." She told herself and got up from her bed.

She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. There were red marks on her cheeks and her eyes were red as well, from trying not to cry the whole day. Jade splashed some cold water on her face and grabbed clean towel from under the sink. Then she hang it on the last hook of the hanger, which was added right after she came there the first time, and she was happy to see it was still there.

Then she decided to go downstairs and see if Molly needed any help but just as she stepped down from the last stair, a choir of voices was heard approaching the Burrow quickly.

Jade recognised Ginny's high voice and Fred and George teasing Ron about something, but soon everything fell quiet as the group of children stopped by the back door, looking surprised/happy/reliever at Jade who was now standing in the middle of kitchen.

Right then a chaos erupted. Jade was hugged by everyone at the same time, everyone yelled and laughed at the same time and Jade could do nothing but join them.

Half an hour later when Weasleys finally settled down around the dinner table, there were still questions asked and you could see wide smile on every face.

"Where's Charlie and Bill?" asked Jade quietly, interrupting the stream of questions addressed to her.

"Oh sweetheart, they wanted to stay, they really did, but Bill had to leave last week and Charlie went back to school two days ago – he stayed as long as he could but…" trailed of Molly, looking really sorry, even though it wasn't her fault.

"Oh, that's ok, I was just wondering…"started Jade.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll only see them at Christmas as they won't be able to make it back to see you guys off to Hogwarts this year." Said Arthur apologetically.

And so the conversation continued, mainly about school and the next shopping trip.

"You'll have to collect all the books tomorrow and see which ones are missing. And also all the potion ingredients and cauldrons…"Molly started to count out.

"Yeah, we burned a hole through one last year" laughed George. "yup, straight through the bottom" added Fred and everyone laughed about it, except from their mom who looked at them shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Ok, we'll see tomorrow and then we'll go shopping this Friday." decided Molly and rushed all her kids upstairs to get ready for bed.

"it feels so right now, when we finally have her home, you know, forever." Mused Molly that night when she snuggled close to her husband.

She didn't wait for him to answer, thinking he was already asleep as usual, but Arthur didn't sleep yet. He was wide awake, too excited and happy to fall asleep just yet.

"yes, it does. It does feel right now, like our family is complete. Finally." He smiled and kissed Molly on her forehead before snuggling closer to her and falling asleep.

Finally.


	38. chocolate frogs and sugar quills

**I'm sorry it took me this long to update again, but I had no internet access as I went to visit grandma. I hope you're having an amazing summer.**

**I know I have lots of typos in every chapter and one day I'll find time to rewrite them all, I promise, I just hope it's not too upsetting for you – thanks for being patient- I still have a lot to learn about English grammar and spelling, it's not always easy (as English's not my first language- remember? )**

**Thanks for reading, you're awesome.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Next morning everyone woke up to rainy dull day. Years later, it was still known as the rain Jade brought home, because the cold weather stayed over Burrow till the end of summer.<p>

After quick breakfast of porridge with rhubarb jam on top, Molly rushed everyone upstairs.

"Ok, now, listen. Here are your lists from school." She handed out rolls of parchment with neat (and quite long) lists of school supplies. The school owls came three days ago but Molly wanted to wait with the inventory day for Jade, so they could do it all together and there would be only one chaotic day.

"You have your school trunks, I hope they are all empty now, Fred, George, if you bring me a pile of dirty socks from Hogwarts, I'll make you wash them in the wheelbarrow outside!

I checked your school robes and fixed them as much as I could, just try them on to see if they still fit so we know what we have to buy tomorrow.

Dad brought down the box with spare school supplies this morning, it's in the living-room.

Ok! Off you go – I'll check what you've packed after lunch." Finished Molly with sight. She already looked exhausted.

"Ay Ay captain." Saluted twins and run upstairs, closely followed by Percy.

Molly turned to Jade who stood there, not really knowing what to do.

"Ok dear, you have your list, let me see. We'll get your robes in Diagon alley, and the cauldron too, Fred and George went through all the spare cauldrons we had – melting holes through our entire supply in one school year. But you should be able to get most of your books from boys, Fred and George have each one copy so you can choose the better ones. We don't…buy new books every year, with so many kids…" started Molly apologetically.

"With so many kids, you already have all the books you need." Finished Jade and smiled. She didn't see anything wrong in having used books or robes or supplies.

She was happy to have Weasleys back. – for now, as she reminded herself.

"Ok then, Ron, Ginny you can help but stay out of the way, we have to finish this today. Oh and Jade, honey, I've put Bill's old suitcase to your room, we were planning to get you different one but Bill says he wants you to have his." Said Molly and turned around to start the lunch.

Jade came to her room and found yellow, old looking trunk. It was huge and had beautifully polished copper corners and two large leather straps all around it.

She slowly opened the top and found a folded piece of parchment inside.

_Dearest sister, _

_We had to leave before you came back home and for that we are really sorry._

_It was difficult time without you here. Mom cried most of the days and dad was nervous and angry with the social services and no one could really do much, just sit around and wait._

_We are happy you made it back home. _

_Please know that our parents never wanted you to go away for those days. They truly love you and we all love you too. You are a part of family now and Weasleys are forever._

_We realize it's hard for you to trust in us again, but whatever you do, you'll always be with us and mom will always make you come back home for holidays – don't try to stay in school, we'll find you and drag you back to Burrow where you belong now._

_There's a secret compartment on the bottom of the trunk, it will only open to the owner or those who have direct permission to open it from the owner. _

_So now, I give you official permission to open it and I'm also making you the owner._

_(Bill)_

_We hope you'll love Hogwarts as much as we did and don't listen to Percy – rules are made to be broken – Fred and George should help you with that._

_Have fun and we'll see you at Christmas._

_Your awesome brothers Bill and Charlie_

Jade put down the letter and reached inside the trunk to look for the secret compartment. And indeed, it was there. As she touched the bottom, little loop of worn our fabric appeared in the corner and when she pulled it open, there were two chocolate frogs waiting for her, with a little note attached.

_Chocolate helps cure homesickness and any sadness in general. We hope you won't have to eat them for that reason, but in case you got homesick and couldn't find any of your brothers at school, here's a little reminder that you do have two awesome older brothers out of school who'll be happy to get an owl from you. Just write if you need anything._

_Bill and Charlie _

There were tears running down Jade's cheeks and soaking the note, making ink splotches on the parchment before Jade had time to wipe them away.

It was all she ever wanted – to hear that Weasleys really did care, but it was still hard to believe.

She set the note back and closed the compartment.

The chaos began immediately. Jade could hear Percy complaining from upstairs because twins broke into his room and made a mess in his neat pile of old school books. Jade took a deep breath and run up the staircase, leading to twins' bedroom.

"Knock, knock!" she yelled to be sure that boys heard her through the loud music coming from their little magic-radio.

The door opened just a crack and she saw George's eye peek outside.

"The air is clean, it's only Jade." Said George and let her in.

"Welcome, welcome, to our kingdom, and pride." Called Fred from the other side of the room where he was trying to hide a pile of what looked like dirty socks amongst other laundry in Molly's laundry-basket they stole from the hallway.

"Please step carefully and be prepared to be amazed." Added George and moved aside a huge box filled with colourful objects of all shapes and sizes.

The room was one huge mess, with buntings in red and gold running across the ceiling in all directions, with fan in the centre, which was turned on and colourful stripes of ribbons and tinfoil hanging from the sides were creating quite large circle of blurriness around it.

There were two beds, covered with two identical blankets but those were barely visible as both boys emptied their trunks on them.

"So, dearest sister, is this just a pleasant visit of your two favourite brothers or is it a business meeting?" asked George, pushing a bit of the mess on the side so Jade could sit on the corner of his bed.

She decided to play along and announced in a very official voice that yes, actually it was a business trip that brought her over to this part of the house.

She handed the list of school books to Fred who came to sit beside her.

"Well, well, this is nothing to worry about, we'll have the items ready in no time, miss." Assured her Fred and stood up. He started to walk up and down the aisle between the two beds, reciting the list of books and George jumped around the room, pulling out textbooks and notepads from the most unbelievable places. There was one book hiding under the laundry basket, one behind the curtains of the corner window and two, he pulled out of their socks drawer ("all clean socks" he swears which made Jade burst out in laughter). Half-way through the list they changed roles so fast that Jade almost didn't notice, and continued without stopping.

When all books were retrieved from their mysterious locations Jade was left buried under ton of school books and notepads which twins added to make her life easier.

Their notebooks contained all sorts of advices and shortcuts to move around the castle and get to class in time, but also notes from lectures, all surprisingly neat and in order, written on clean parchments and bound together with thin dark blue thread.

"We have to keep the notes neat and organized to find the right spell when we're experimenting with our inventions." Clarified George, reading Jade's surprised expression.

"Well, thank you dear brothers." Jade thanked them and bowed lightly, still laying the role. "It was a pleasure, visiting your place and I'm sure I'll stop by again later today."

"The pleasure is ours, dear sister, we can't wait to see you again soon. Take care." Replied Fred and George, after exchanging some more courtesies offered Jade one of the white quills they had on huge pile next to the desk chair.

"A sugar quill for you, fair lady, we got that supply as a kind of payment for helping one of our suppliers with an issue he was having with his new candy canes." Said Fred and waved at Jade as she exited the room carrying the stack of school books and her sugar quill back downstairs.

Just when she was packing her last book and checking it off the list (there were still two books which boys promised to find for her after cleaning their room a bit) there was a soft knock on her door.

Molly was standing there with a pile of school robes in her hands.

"Jade, dear, we have some school robes which are too short for boys now, and I was wondering if…" started Molly still embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't buy Jade new ones.

Jade didn't quite understand it. Molly never seemed embarrassed when she gave twins old tees after Charlie or Percy or when she took out a pile of old hand-me-downs from the closet when Ron was tall enough to wear something after twins, so why should it be different with her?

And Jade absolutely didn't mind, she just didn't want to be singled out by Molly or Arthur, she wished they would take her as a part of family.

"I'll try them on and see if they fit." Smiled Jade taking the robe from the top of the pile.

Molly put them all down on Jade's bed and helped her new daughter to put on the robes over the jeans overalls she was wearing.

"Of course we'll buy you the skirt and blouse and maybe even a vest, but it would be nice if some of the robes would fit." Chatted Molly happily now, when she saw that Jade wasn't upset.

There were two robes that were still too long for Jade, and it was no surprise, considering how tall her brothers were, but they managed to find two which fit her perfectly. That meant she'd only need a couple more and she'd be ready to go.

"We'll have to buy the ties and sweater for winter, but you'll have Fred's vest ok?" asked Molly still a little bit worried.

"Ok, thank you so much." Said Jade shyly.

Molly stroked her cheek and smiled at her with all the love she had. "It will be the best year, don't worry. First year of school is always the best." Said Molly and stood up from where she was sitting at the food of Jade's bed.

"We'll have to take the robes with us tomorrow and have Madame Malkin change the Gryffindor crest back to the school one." Explained Molly and after smiling one more time in Jade's direction, she hurried upstairs where she heard Percy yelling again because this time Ron and Ginny got into his way.


	39. packing and panicking

**I'm so sorry I let you wait for the update this long... thanks for the reviews and for adding my story to your favorites.**

**you're the best!**

**in the next chapter we'll have sorting - what house Jade'll be in? any ideas? **

**I know there isn't much action right now, but I'd like to write this story about Jade - an "ordinary" student at Hogwarts - I'll follow J.K.R's plot but look at it from Jade's point of view and show you how everyday's life is at Hogwarts...Jade's still dealing with the emotional issues and she doesn't need any big action moments right now but they'll come - inevitably - as Voldemort gains more power and second war will start because it affected the "ordinary" people the most...but that's far in the future...**

**here's another chapter enjoy!**

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><p>Everyone gathered in front of the large fireplace at Burrow, dressed in casual clothes, mostly (Ginny found the opportunity appropriate to fully dress up, complete with bright pink ribbon braided into her hair and Jade followed suit, only dressed more subtly in her dark blue dress and thin little ribbon tied around her hair like a headband).<p>

There weren't many occasions to dress up at the Burrow and sometimes even the most tomboy-ish girl felt like having a girly day.

They arrived to the Diagon alley without problems and Jade was excited to have a look at all the shops she didn't see last time they went shopping but that would have to wait.

"Jade, honey, while we're here, we need to take care of the issue at Gringotts' and have your account signed over to you, so you could only use it once you're of age." Said Molly still wiping ash off Ron's tee.

"Alright." Agreed Jade, happy to oblige and make the Weasleys happy. The judge explained that having all the money "frozen" until Jade's legal adult so no one could use it till then, was one of the conditions of the adoption.

Arthur grabbed Jade's hand and after everyone promised to meet by the Quidditch shop later they hurried up the street in direction of huge white building.

"Now, there's nothing to be worried about, the goblins will just request my signature and we'll have to hand over the key, I'm only taking you with me, in case they have a few questions for you, but they shouldn't." Arthur squeezed Jade's hand reassuringly and they climbed up the stairs together.

"…of course, we're happy to transfer all the rights over to Miss Mraz, once she's of age, but there was one special request made by her parents when they included her in their family vault. Her father specially requested that we deliver her enough money to pay for her first wand at the age of eleven. We are bound to give you that amount now Miss Mraz…" the goblin addressed Jade directly," …it was a contract signed by the person opening the vault which has higher importance that the contract we signed now. Here is the money Miss, and make sure you'll use it to buy your wand, as there is a spell which will vanish it in case you try to buy something else – as requested by your father. You may keep the change if there will be any."

The goblin bowed and with one tap of his finger on the table, all documents disappeared.

Jade and Arthur left with a small leather bag filled with few galleons.

Molly and the rest of the kids were waiting in front of the sports shop.

"Oh, good you're finally here, we didn't start shopping yet, I was waiting for you to come back." Announced Molly and started to push twins in the direction of Madame Malkin's shop.

They left with numerous packages. Twins needed new pants and shirts and robes for school, Jade got new skirts and knee-high socks and a pair of stockings and one white blouse (they had few small white dress shirts at home which fitted her quite well). Percy needed new robes and pants and sweater. Of course The clothes weren't really new. There was a section in the store with slightly used school uniforms, still in good shape, but much cheaper and that's where all the Weasleys' kids got the uniforms.

They visited the bookstore – adding few books which were missing from the collection they had at home and Molly went to buy few kits of potion ingredients and impressive supply of quills and parchments – on which she got a discount because she bought 4 year-lasting kits and some blank parchment for home.

Once all the shopping was done, Arthur took the boys plus Ginny home while Molly and Jade headed over to Olivander's to get her the first wand. Molly was awfully happy when she found out Jade got the money for it already, that meant she could get a brand new wand.

Half an hour later they walked out of the store, leaving very exhausted-looking Olivander behind.

Jade couldn't have been happier. Feeling her own magic flow through the wand, sending a jet of golden sparkles all the way to the ceiling was the best feeling ever and somehow it reassured her that yes, indeed, she was a witch. (Deep down it her heart there was a fear that it was all a mistake and she wasn't magic at all, and she was sure she'd be sent away if Weasleys found out she was a muggle).

"Sweet Merlin!" Exclaimed Molly after coming back to the Burrow to find a kitchen table full of clean socks, her two youngest trying to sort them and Arthur at the stove cooking his famous macaroni with cheese. Percy was in the living room, putting away all the spare school stuff they won't be using this year back to the boxes and twins were out in the garden de-gnoming the garden again. It was a job that needed more repeating than cutting the grass.

"Oh, thank you darlings, you're so sweet to help with the Burrow." Smiled Molly and after calling all the kids inside she started to unpack all they bought.

Each kid was sent upstairs with a handful of new school robes, writing supplies and potion ingredients to put them in their trunks and check the items off the lists.

Next day was free. No more packing or going out to buy stuff, only one load of laundry for Molly and lazy attempt to cut the grass in the front yard on Arthur's side.

Jade wandered around the veggie garden with Ron and Ginny in the tow. The path was dry, although it was really humid and hot outside, clear sign that the rain was coming later that day.

They marched through the rows of green leaves, picking late strawberry here and there, enjoying the sensation of dry soil on their feet.

Lazy summer days like this were the ones Jade still remembered years after. There was a loud thunder and raindrops huge like gold balls started to fall, effectively soaking the children who didn't have enough time to run back inside.

In the kitchen there was Percy, silently cursing as he held a soaked letter in his hands, waiting for mom to dry it magically so he could send it to his girl…just a friend from school.

Ron and Jade tiptoed across the kitchen, heading up to their rooms to change but Ginny stayed downstairs curiously watching her mommy who put down her sewing just to get her wand and help Percy out.

Under Molly's gifted hands, there was newest doll being born, because Ginny's Harry and the Ginny-doll needed smaller doll-child to care after. So there was a little baby-doll with a tuff of black hair and brown eyes being stitched together as not so secret gift for Ginny. There was a big Welsh-green plush dragon already finished in Molly's sewing basket, waiting for Ron.

Molly always made sure that younger kids who didn't go to school yet, felt included and got something new and exciting when they siblings left for Hogwarts.

They only had a couple days left before 1st September and although Molly claimed those days were free for her kids to enjoy the last bits of summer, she always found something that needed to be done.

She went over the list of one child every day and checked they've packed all they'll need, because sometimes one of them forgot to pack ridiculously essential item like cauldron, or the essay they had to finish during the summer, or in case of Fred and George – socks. There was huge amount of socks the two boys needed between them and every year Molly brought them a laundry basket of clean, carefully paired and repaired socks to pack, and almost every year they lay forgotten in the corner of their room, making Molly to forcefully stuff them to the sides of the trunks as the space designed for socks was already occupied by twin's strange collection of what they swore to be extra potion ingredients but turned out to be a part of the pranks that professor McGonagall described in various letters during the year.

The afternoon before the day of the departure was hectic. Everyone got a long bath or at least hot shower, every kid's feet were checked if they scrubbed them well enough (Jade thought her heels were never this ping before), if they had nails clipped, if they washed their necks and behind the ears, if their hair was clean enough, if they've packed two sets of towels, etc.

They got to bed at 11 o'clock and it was the first night when Jade fell asleep straight away, without a fear of nightmares because she was just too exhausted to care.

Molly woke them up at 6 a.m. Last toothbrushes were packed, last holes in the shoes fixed and soon, they were all standing in front of the fireplace, flooing straight to the special waiting room for wizards at the King's cross station. It was half past ten when they finally made it.

"All you have to do now, is walk straight to the wall between the platforms 9 and 10." Announced Percy importantly and did exactly what he instructed Jade to do.

"Show off" murmured Fred just before Percy disappeared behind the barrier.

"Jade, honey, I'll go with you." Offered Molly and together with scared Jade they pushed the trolley straight to the wall.

Jade squeezed shut her eyes and waited for the collision, but it never happened, and when she opened them again, there was big crimson train standing in front of her and hundreds of people all around them.

Molly pulled her to the side just in time to make room for George and Fred racing to the platform. They yelled "see you in a bit mom!" at the same time and run off to reunite with their friends who were waving at them from the other side of the platform.

Arthur who was pulling Ron and Ginny on either side hurried over to them.

"Let's find you a compartment Jade, it's getting late."

He went in front of them looking through the windows and after a while he finally pointed out an empty compartment in the middle of the train. Arthur pulled Jade's trunk up the stairs with Ron hanging from the top handle in an attempt to help.

All was set.

There was a trunk full of magical items with Jade's name on it. There were twins saying good-bye to their parents and nervous Percy trying to fight his way through them and say proper farewell to his mother. Ginny was holding her dad's hand as if her life depended on it while Arthur had a death grip on Ron's collar trying to prevent him from sneaking away.

This was it. Jade was going off to school, finally a place where she'll know what's going to happen, a place where she'll have her life in her own hands, where she'll take care of herself like she always did. Place where people might understand her, because it was a place where no one knew about her past and she could start over, but suddenly Jade wasn't sure if it's such a good idea.

She missed Burrow already, and she even wondered for a while what would Molly say if she asked them to take her back with them and just wait one more year before she went to school.

"Nervous?" whispered Arthur leaning closer to her.

Jade just nodded yes.

"Don't be. It will be the best time of your life.

Jade was about to say she highly doubted it and she opened her mouth to ask if she can stay but Molly pulled her into a bear hug in that very same moment and whispered how proud she is of Jade.

"You'll be fine, just try your best and don't get into trouble. We'll send you a letter soon and you can write as much as you want, just ask boys where the school owls are." Said Arthur hugging her one more time.

"And before you know it, you'll be back home for Christmas." Said teary-eyed Molly and kissed Jade's forehead.

Jade just nodded again and with a huge lump in her throat and a little help from Arthur she climbed the stairs just in time, before the Hogwarts' express moved.

"Don't worry mom, we'll take good care of her!" shouted twins as they leaned out of the window hugging Jade from both sides.

"With us three away at school, you'll get the double amount of letters this year from Dumbledore!" they added and Jade laughed, wiping away the tears she didn't realize were falling down her cheeks.

"Take care, and write as soon as you arrive! I love you all!" yelled Molly and let go of Ginny and Ron who run beside the train.

"We love you too!" yelled Fred and George back and this time Jade joined them.

It felt so good to say it out loud that Jade had to repeat it again and make sure the Weasleys heard her. "I love you!" she yelled trying to be louder than the train.

Together with her brothers they waved out of the window at Arthur who finally caught up with his two youngest and was now holding crying Ginny in his arms.

She had red eyes and shook with hiccups but still blew kisses until the train disappeared.

"We'll be back later to check on you…" started Fred

"…but we have to go find out friends for now. Will you be ok on your own for a while?" asked George, with one foot already in the aisle.

"Sure." Agreed Jade, trying to sound as brave as she could.

"Alright, see you in a while." They called at her and run off.

Jade sighed and sat down close to the window. She was alone again.

As she watched the London drift by the train and big business buildings started to change into smaller suburban houses the door of the compartment opened…


	40. welcome

**thank you Aims5 for your review and also thanks to Reader AZ (Guest) for reviewing! it'ś'nice to know that someone's reading my story!**

**here's next chapter, enjoy!**

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><p>The door opened and Jade turned around quickly to see who was there.<p>

It was a boy with blond hair and dark blue eyes which were almost covered by the lock of hair hanging down the middle of his forehead.

"Hello, would you mind if I sit 'ere?" he asked with strong English accent. It sounded almost as if he was waiting for Jade to say no, but he held his chin high in the air.

"Of course you can sit here." Answered Jade, trying to sound as nonchalant as the boy but she failed miserably as the surprise of being asked to give permission to someone was clear in her voice.

Usually it was the other way around and she had to ask for things and face rejection.

"Alright, thanks." Said the boy and pushed his school trunk inside, leaving it in the corner of the compartment.

An awkward silence fell.

Jade wanted to be brave and outgoing and make friends at school, she wanted this year to be different from her past and she had the whole introduction and conversation planned in her head, but couldn't make herself open her mouth and actually say something.

If you were ever in a similar situation, about to do something you've never done before, I'm sure you now how hard it can be, even though you're aware that all your fears are irrational.

When she finally found the courage and took a deep breath to introduce herself, the boy turned his head and looked out of the window.

_Don't be silly, you can do this, he's just one kid. What's the worst scenario? Maybe he wouldn't want to be friends, that doesn't matter there will be plenty of other kids…_

Jade tried to reason with herself. Finally she decided she didn't care what the boy thought about her and started:

"Hi, my name's Jade Mraz, this will be my first year at Hogwarts, how about you? Oh, of course it's your first year too, you don't have a house emblem on your robes so you're not sorted yet…" mumbled Jade looking at the front of the black robes the boy was wearing.

He smiled and let out the breath he was holding.

"My name's Deric. Deric, Longdann, it's nice to meet you Jade. And yes, this will be my first year here." He said, as his smile disappeared and was replaced with the same nervous expression from the moment ago.

"Are you nervous?" asked Jade, now that she has started the conversation, her natural friendly side kicked in and it was easy for her to talk. The boy looked in distress and she knew too well how hard it was to deal with those emotions on her own, that's why she wanted to help.

"I sure am nervous, I've never quite fit in with kids at school, but I'm sure it'll be different now." She added trying to encourage Deric but it had no effect whatsoever, so she continued.

"I used to go to muggle schools and I've never met any other wizard in my life until I came to live with the new family." Said Jade, realizing she said too much. She didn't want people to know she was an orphan, she didn't need pity or uncomfortable questions about her past, but if Deric noticed, he didn't give any sign about it.

"Really? I've never had any friends before, but I doubt that would change now." He said sounding disappointed.

"Oh I'm sure we'll find lots of new friend at Hogwarts! You see, there will be only wizards now and no one will question all the strange things we do, because they'll actually teach us how to do them!" announced Jade, not willing to let the boy blow her bubble of happiness and hope that she might actually fit in for once.

"That's not the problem, I've always went to wizard school and most of our neighbours are wizards, it's just that kids didn't really want to play with me. It always started the same – one of the boys would start calling me names and the rest of them would follow." Deric explained sadly.

"Oh I've been called names many times, but it doesn't matter, because if you know it's not true than you can just laugh at their stupidity." Said Jade trying really hard to cheer her companion up.

"And what if you know it is truth?" asked Deric menacingly waiting for an answer but Jade had no idea what to say.

"I'm sorry, I'm not a very pleasant company" apologized the boy, "do you want me to leave?"

"No! of course not! Why would I want that?" asked Jade confused.

"Well, because you don't have to put up with me, I could go away and never bother you again. Why would you even want me to stay?" Deric shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, because…because I want you to be my friend, and because…it's not your fault that those people didn't want to talk to you or did horrible things to you, but now we have a chance for new start." Said Jade, still sticking to her theory about fresh start at school where no one knew her (except for Weasleys).

"You could find better friends, I should let you be." Said Deric and stood up to gather his things.

That's when Jade realized what he was doing – running away before she would get a chance to kick him out – the exact same thing she did to Molly and Arthur.

"I really want you to stay." Claimed Jade quietly, knowing he won't believe her but might stay because somewhere deep inside he wanted to find a friend at least.

After another moment of awkward silence the conversation started to flow more lightly. They didn't talk about past, they mostly stayed away from too personal themes like family and relatives but shared a lot about themselves and by the time Fred and George stopped by alongside the lady pushing a tray filled with food and sweets, Jade felt like she really did find a friend.

"Ooooh I see you found a friend already!" exclaimed George

"A way to go sis! You can never have enough friends for pranks." Added Fred.

"I hope you won't follow the rules with your want stuck up your ass… like Percy does!" they finished each others sentences and laughed about the occasional rhymes they were able to produce.

F: "We've been planning our first prank…"

G: "…and we were going to include you, little sis, but unfortunately…"

F:" …we'll have to reschedule. Wood is planning Quidditch try-outs next week-end and …"

"we are going to try and make it to the team!" announced George before he excitedly half-hugged his little sister.

"Great! I can't wait to see you fly!" smiled Jade, feeling really proud that they called her sister out in the public.

Those were the little random acts that made her feel like Weasley. None of the big talks that Molly and Arthur had with her over the summer persuaded her about how much they wanted her to be a part of the family, but little things like seeing a photo from their trip hanging on the wall amongst the pictures from other adventures which happened long before Jade joined the family, made her feel welcomed.

She remembered the day when Arthur came home from work and brought a thin little package with him. He opened it and revealed a clock-hand with Jade's name on it and her photo on one end. It was the same lie Molly's clock had, with names and photos of all the members of their big family.

There wasn't big celebration about it, no one really acknowledged it, and soon after close inspection by the youngest three, the hand was added to the clock and Molly said how happy she is to have it finally the right way, showing what all of her kids are up to.

The way, everyone took it like something natural made Jade much more happier as if there was a big ceremony around it.

"…Jade! JADE!" yelled Fred and shook her rather drastically.

She snapped out of her daydream and looked at him confused.

"Sorry, I just remembered something…" she trailed off.

"Alright. You should put on your robes, we'll be soon in Hogsmade." Said George looking out of the window.

"Yeah, sure." Agreed Jade and suddenly felt panicked. This was really happening. She was at Hogwarts!

She pulled the black robes over her head (she was wearing her skirt and blouse with sweater-vest since early morning).

The train stopped with a loud squeak and all the doors automatically opened.

They were told to leave all the baggage inside.

"First year! Oi! First year students! Come here! Welcome, welcome!" shouted big man standing at the end of the platform.

Jade felt two pairs of hands grab her around her waist and pull her over to the giant.

She let out a yelp of surprise before she realized it were the twins.

"Hey Hagrid!" greeted Fred.

"Let us introduce you to our sister here." Announced George and bowed a little as if he was talking to someone from higher society.

"It's nice to meet you …sir." Said Jade and bowed awkwardly, not sure what to do.

"Another of you pranksters? Alright then, we're having an interesting year are we?" laughed Hagrid friendly.

"Alright, keep an eye on her for us, will you?" yelled George as he run away in the direction of dirt road leading to the forest.

"Oi! Little ones! First year!" Hagrid continued to yell, until the platform cleared out and there was just a handful of little figures dressed in black robes left.

"Fallow me now! Will you? Keep close, I don't wantcha lost!" said Hagrid and led the way to the biggest lake Jade has ever seen.

Jade looked a little bit unsure about climbing into the boat, but everyone else was already in, so she put one foot in the last empty boat and almost lost balance when small, but strong hand caught her arm and steadied her, helping Jade climb inside the boat.

It was Deric, smiling shyly at her.

"Oh, I'm so glad I found you again. Your brothers look like a lot of fun, you're lucky to have them." He said seriously.

"I know." Said Jade quietly.

The boats started to move slowly and Jade suddenly grabbed Deric's arm. She wan't scared, not really, but something about the dark calm water of the lake made her feel uneasy.

They made it safely to the castle and after waiting for a while, they were led inside the Great Hall, as professor McGonagall called the huge room with five tables.

A very old looking hat sitting on the chair started to sing suddenly:

_I welcome you here_

_Don't be shy my dear_

_Try me on and see_

_Where your place will be_

_Gryffindor is really brave _

_Hufflepuff is loyal friend_

_Slytherin can find way out_

_Rawenclaw is clever_

_Do not ever doubt_

_My decision is final_

_Try your best while here_

_Our school is your new home_

_Let's together cheer_

There was a loud applause and cheering at the end of the song, but soon everything went quiet as the sorting started.

Deric went before Jade and he smiled softly at her, before the brim of the sorting hat covered his eyes.

There was a brief moment of silence and them a loud "Hufflepuff!" echoed through the hall.

He took off the hat and hurried over to the table where he was greeted by some of the older students.

"Mraz, Jadelynne!" called professor McGonagall.

As Jade sat down on the stool, she had just enough time to quickly look at Fred and George sitting at Gryffindor's table. They both smiled and winked at her before everything went black and Jade could hear a tiny voice.

_Hmmm, what do we have here? I see lots of passion and loyalty, you want to be a good friend more than anything…you're a clever little one aren't you now? I see you got that from your parents, they were both in Rawenclaw. But it's not always important who we are when we are born. The thing that matters is who we want to be and who we become…and I see courage, you are one of the bravest students I have ever met, with all the things you have faced in the past…_

Jade winced slightly at the mention of her past life.

…_so it's either Rawenclaw of Gryffindor, I can't decide my dear, it's all up to you now, because what you decide to do makes you who you are._ Said the hat and suddenly all was silent.

What do I do now? Thought Jade. Her mind was absolutely blank. Was she a Rawenclaw like her parents, yeah, she thought so, but what about Weasleys? They were all in Gryffindor and as much as Jade wanted to be like them, she knew she could never be that good herself.

_I see you've made up your mind. I see who you want to be_ said the hat with a hint of smile in it's voice.

_**Gryffindor!**_

And the moment the hat shouted it's final decision, Jade knew it was the right one, she suddenly knew that deep in her heart she wanted this from the beginning, she wanted to really belong to a family, and she wanted to let them in.


	41. brothers and sisters

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm sorry I didn't update sooner but I'm still studying for exams – agrh…anyway, I hope you like the story so far, here's another chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><em>Gryffindor!<em>

Someone pulled the hat down from Jade's head but she didn't look back to see who it was, rushing to the table where she saw the Weasleys clapping and cheering with the rest of the students.

She sat down on one of the free places, next to a girl with beautiful long black hair and her friend with curly dark brown hair and big black eyes.

"Hi!" said the girl sitting on Jade's left side "My name is Madeline Li, but everyone at home calls me Maddie." Then she added "this is my friend Joyce."

Jade turned to the other girl who smiled shyly and said hello with such soft voice that Jade almost didn't hear her.

The two friends seemed to be completely different but it seemed to work because they could sometimes finish each-other's sentences just like Fred and George did.

Jade knew it was time for her own introduction and she could finally use the one she prepared a couple days ago: "Hi, I'm Jadelynne but everyone calls me Jade and it's so nice to meet you both! I'm so excited to be in Gryffindor." Said Jade genuinely and smiled in the direction of her _brothers_. Yes indeed, they were her brothers and she realized how proud it made her feel. She was in the same house like the rest of her _family_. Fred noticed she was looking and nudged George who looked at Jade and they both waved and showed her their thumbs up. They seemed happy she made it.

The sorting ended and after short speech from Dumbledore in which he reminded students that Forbidden Forest was really forbidden (while he looked knowingly in Weasleys twins' direction) the plates filled themselves with food and everyone started chatting.

Percy got up from his seat and walked over to Jade.

"Congratulations! I'm glad you made it to Gryffindor." He said officially and after Jade thanked him he turned around to get back to his classmates but was almost pushed over by Fred and George who rushed to Jade.

" hey sis, we wanted to congratulate you to being sorted to the best house…and we're sorry that Percy made it first…but still we want to say…we're proud of you …and imagine how much fun we'll have if you help us with the pranks." They said taking turns.

"George, McGonagall's coming." Whispered Fred and turned back to Jade.

They both yelled Congratulations and Happy b-day!" one more time and after loud BANG a little shower of colourful paper confetti started to fall on Jade while laughing twins run back to their seats but professor McGonagall didn't look very impressed even though she turned back to her table in the middle of the hall.

Maddie and Joyce giggled as the little papers settled on the table and lots of them got stuck in Joyce's very curly hair.

"Are those your brothers?" asked Maddie sounding quite impressed.

"Yeah, they are. The first who came here was Percy, and the twins are Fred and George." Said Jade proudly, getting used to the idea of people thinking about her as the part of Weasley family.

"Cool!" nodded Joyce "I only have one little sister, she's only four though, so she doesn't do much but I love her a lot." She said proudly opening the locket and showing girls the photo of herself with little kid dressed in bright pink dress and with cornrow braids on her head.

"I have one sister too, but she's already nine." Said Jade.

"Wow! So you have three brothers and one sister? That's awesome, I don' t have any siblings, just two cousins but they are muggles, actually my whole family is muggle" she added matter-of-factly.

"No, I have six brothers and one sister but Charlie and Bill are already out of school and Ron will be eleven next year so…"

The conversation continued smoothly, girls exchanging all the information about school – most of what Jade knew was from twins so she didn't say much, in case it was just one of their jokes but Joyce knew a lot so they listened in fascination.

Soon the food vanished and Dumbledore wished them good night.

Prefects called the first years to make a line next to each table and they waited while the rest of the students got out of the great Hall. It was always a little bit chaotic and no one wanted to search for lost first-years so it was safer to wait.

"We'll see you in the common room" whispered twins when they walked past Jade and then disappeared.

Jade looked around and saw Deric standing in line with some boys. He saw her looking and gave her a small smile. Jade waved back and smiled widely. Deric was the first friend she made and she wasn't going to lose him just because he was in a different house, maybe they'll have some classes together, she hoped.

"Ok, everyone, make two lines, don't get lost and please pay attention where we're going – you'll need to remember the way.

They followed the prefect, through brightly lit corridors, countless staircases and doors before they arrived to the portrait hiding the passage to Gryffindor common room.

"The password is ANIMI ET PIETAS it means courage and loyalty. Don't let anyone outside Gryffindor know it. We will change the password every month." Said the boy and stepped inside the room which was previously hidden behind the painting.

It was round room with high ceiling, huge fireplace and big assortment of mismatched overstuffed chairs and sofas. Carpet was bright red and there were golden accents all around the room.

This stairs lead to boys' bedrooms, your baggage is already there and you'll find your names written on the door. The other staircase leads to girls' bedrooms and there's bathroom on every level. Tomorrow's Friday so you will start with simple lessons and short introductions but make sure you're up for breakfast at 7:30 when professor McGonagall will give you your timetables.

Welcome to Gryffindor and I hope you'll fit in splendidly. We're like family here, looking out for each other, that means if you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask me or any of your older housemates. Good night." Finished the prefect and left the bunch of first year students standing in the middle of the room.

"Let's find out bedroom!" suggested Maddie and pulled Joyce with her, expectedly looking at Jade.

"I'll be right there." Promised Jade, she saw Fred and George waving at her from the other side of the room.

"Alright." Agreed Joyce cheerfully, already acting less shy.

Jade made her way through the crowd of students who were all still catching up and chatting about their summer.

George was standing next to two other boys Jade didn't know, chatting about Quidditch but he too turned around when Jade came closer to them.

Twins looked at her proudly, rest of their friends staring at Jade for a while but then went back to their conversation.

"So, what do you thing about Hogwarts so far?" Asked Fred looking pretty happy to be back in the castle.

"It's beautiful." Smiled Jade.

"Well, we'll give you a proper tour tomorrow after school, there's much more to Hogwarts than just the castle." Whispered George and both boys winked at Jade.

"Yeah, like forest and stuff?" giggled Jade, remembering Dumbledore's warning.

"Exactly, forest and stuff, but don't you dare stepping in the forest without us." Said Fred suddenly much more serious than before.

"Ok…" promised Jade, not sure what else she should say.

"We'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then." Concluded George and ruffled Jade's hair. "That's right, our baby sister needs to wake up really soon for her first day of school." Cooed Fred and also ruffled Jade's hair while George started to pat her cheek.

"Stop it!" argued Jade and tried to fight off their hands.

"ha-ha, don't pout sis, we were just kidding. Good night!" called Fred after Jade who turned around and marched in direction of Girls' bedrooms."

"Good night!" she called back, smiling at them, to let her brothers know she wasn't angry. They laughed at her and waved.

Jade climbed the stairs to the top of the tower. There were small landings with bathroom and bedroom doors but even though she looked on every door, she didn't find her name until she reached the top.

And there it was "Maddie, Joyce, Jade, Katie, Sue" written beautifully on white wooden tag. The door was opened and when Jade came in, she found four girls busy unpacking and decorating the room.

It was already dark outside with pale moon light shining through the windows and warm glow from the lamp hanging from the ceiling.

Joyce was hanging a string of what looked like white Christmas lights all around the room and Maddie was arranging pillows on her bed. The two other girls who Jade saw at dinner, were unpacking stacks of clothes and chatting happily.

When they saw her come in, they all smiled and run to greet her.

"Hi, my name's Sue…" started the girl with pale brown hair, even lighter color than Jade's. "…and I'm Katie" added the other girl with chin-ling blond hair, carrying a pile of socks to the dresser.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Jade." Said Jade and turned around to see which bed was hers.

There was the last empty bed by the wall, next to Maddie's bed which was now decorated with bright pink and purple pillows.

"So you found the way." Commented Maddie giggling.

"Yeah, Fred and George wanted to …" trailed of Jade, not really knowing what to say.

"Fred and George Weasley?" asked Katie surprised.

"Yeah, why, do you know them?" asked Jade.

"Of course I do, my older brother was in seventh year last school year and he told me all sorts of funny stories about them." Smiled Katie.

"Funny stories?" Jade wasn't sure if the girl was making fun of her new brothers or not, but if she was, Jade was ready to defend them, feeling really protective of her family.

"Yeah, he told me about all the pranks they pulled on teachers and stuff. Even the students from higher years thought they were really cool!" explained Katie turning around to take another pile of clothes from her trunk.

"Oh, yes, they do pull a lot of pranks, even at home, but they usually get in trouble for them." Laughed Jade, proud that she knew something about the Weasleys twins.

Jade opened her trunk. She'd better unpack quickly, it was getting late and they'll have to go to bed soon, if they were going to wake up in time for breakfast tomorrow.

Joyce flicked the swith on her Christmas lights and they filled the room with soft light.

"I hope you don't mind I've put them all around the room, I thought they'd look nice, but if you want me to, I can just put them around my bed.." said Joyce a little bit unsure if the girls won't mind her decorating the whole room.

"They're beautiful!" exclaimed Jade, realizing that a strand of lights was hanging down the wall next to her bed, ending about twenty inches over her pillow "…we have Christmas lights in garden and we turn them on at night, it's going to remind me of Burrow."

"Yeah Joyce, they're really cool, we'll have the best room." Smiled Sue.

Jade noticed that all the girls had their own pillows, night lamps and pictures on the walls and suddenly she felt sad, wishing she had brought something too.

She opened the trunk and found her spare school robes spread on top.

She smiled, imagining Molly carefully putting them there so they wouldn't get all wrinkled at the bottom.

She hang them in her part of the closet and went to unpack the rest.

There was a small note and little package wrapped in brown paper.

The note said:

"_Dearest Jade, _

_Congratulations! You're now Hogwarts student. We're really proud of you and we already miss you, counting days till Christmas so we can have you back home already._

_Happy birthday, we're sorry we didn't get a chance to celebrate it properly but the last couple of days was really busy with all the paperwork and then school shopping. _

_We're happy you're a part of our family and we love you dearly._

_Here's a little present for you, it's not much but we hope you'll like it._

_Jade, I asked Madam Pomfrey to put a charm on your bed so if you do have a nightmare, don't worry, you won't wake your roommates up._

_She said it's better to let you dream at night because it helps people cope with the past, so she refuses to give you the dreamless-sleep potion unless the nightmares get really bad._

_She assured me that the charm will work so when you fall asleep and as long as you sleep no one will hear you if you talk. I hope it helps and you get a good night sleep without worrying too much._

_Enjoy your first year at Hogwarts and if you find time, please send us a letter, we always love to hear from you kids._

_With love_

_Mom and dad."_

Jade set the note down and unwrapped the package, finding soft flannel PJs, dark red with yellow stars. She smiled and put them on her bed.

While unpacking the rest of her clothes – insane amount of warm hand-knitted socks and underwear which Molly always added to each child's trunk, she also found a framed photo from their trip back in summer. The one where Arthur was standing on his head and everyone was being silly. It was magic photo so the flowers Jae threw in the air were slowly falling to the ground and she watched like everyone laughed silently.

She set it on the bedside table, happy that she too, had something personal to decorate her room.

At the very bottom of the trunk she discovered her pillow from home with her favourite pillowcase.

All the girls said good night and after quick trip to the bathroom, went to bed. It was almost eleven o'clock and everyone was tired.

Jade still had smile on her face when she snuggled under the blankets in her new PJs, with her own pillow from home and photo of her family close to her bed.


	42. homework already?

**Thank you Dragonslayer101, reena and also the anonymous guest for your reviews! I'm glad you like the story so far!**

**I also want to apologize for all the typos and grammatical mistakes I make – sometimes I find time to re-read the chapters I've already posted and I do see the mistakes…I just don't have time to check all the chapters over and over before I post them – that would mean you'd have to wait twice as long for updates :D …so I hope you don't mind a little typo here and there…and I'll try my best to write correctly :)**

**Another chapter – enjoy!**

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><p>Jade woke up early in the morning. Blue light shining through the windows, which meant the sun wasn't up yet but it would soon rise over the horizon.<p>

She couldn't remember any bad dreams and she felt well rested which meant that nightmares were gone for now.

After three full nights of sleep Jade felt more rested than ever and full of energy for the day. There was no way she would fall back asleep so she decided to take morning shower to start her school year correctly.

She sat up on her huge bed and pulled the cover away, chilly morning air felt extremely fresh after the warmth of the comfy bed but the sky was blue so it was going to be sunny later that day.

She hopped out of bed, her bare feet hit the hard wood floor with light tap.

After taking her towel and clean set of clothes Jade silently tip-toed across the room. It seemed like no one else was up yet and the corridors were empty.

She took quick hot shower and washed her hair before drying off and putting on her school uniform.

Jade looked into the mirror and smiled, tying her red-yellow Gryffindor tie which changed color magically during the night.

She let her hair dry freely in the air because she assumed there was plenty of time before breakfast.

On her way back to the bedroom she noticed that the staircase ended after few more steps, leading to the huge window with wide stone window seat. Their room was really on top of the tower.

She smiled at the view, first rays of sunshine warmed up her face.

Jade went back to her room, spreading the wet towel on the back of her chair, she put away the small toiletry bag and made her bed. The bed didn't stand next to the wall, there was a space on each side but Jade decided she's move it a little bit, so there would be wall from one side, she always felt safer sleeping next to the wall, maybe when girls wake up they could help her push it.

Jade packed the messenger bag she'd be using as school bag. It wasn't new, just a hand me down from one of the boys but Jade loved it. It had some history of it's own.

She made sure there was a bottle full of ink, two quills, enough parchment rolls and her wand.

There was nothing else she could check or pack but it didn't seem like girls were going to get up any time soon. Jade decided to walk down to the common room and look at the clock which she noticed hanging on the wall over the fireplace.

It was half past six, so she walked back upstairs and sat on her bed.

She wanted to wait for her new friends and go down to the great hall together with them. It was their first day and she wanted to be good friend and wait anyway.

Sue woke up first, looking on her wrist watch, she groaned and climbed out of the bed.

"Good morning." Said Jade cheerfully but the only response was Sue's half asleep half startled expression.

The girl pulled her school uniform out of the closet and grabbed her cosmetic bag and towel.

"Sorry, not a morning person… I'll be right back." She mumbled and walked out of the room.

Jade pulled out an empty sheet of parchment and ink with quill.

There was still a little bit of time before her friends would be ready to go down and eat so she decided to start writing the letter home. Molly asked them on several occasions to write as often as they'd have time to, and there would be no better time than now.

Jade was so concentrated on writing the letter that she didn't realize girls got up, and were dressed and ready for the day.

"Jade, are you coming?" asked Maddie fifth time.

"Oh, sure! Sorry I got distracted writing the letter" explained Jade, stuffing the unfinished letter into her bag and running to the door.

"Writing home already?" asked Katie, surprised. "How are you going to send it?" asked the muggle-born girl.

"I'm not sure yet, I'll have to ask George and Fred, I think the school has owls somewhere." Said Jade adjusting the strap of her bag.

"Cool!" commented Katie. "When you find out could you let me know, I'd like to write to my parents some time."

"Ok, ok, it's all really cool, but can we please hurry? I'm starving." Interrupted them Joyce and walked over to the portrait hole which served like the exit from the common room.

"Yeah girls, let's go, it's 7:20 already." Rushed them Sue and followed Joyce out of the common room which was now lit by the sunlight, looking much bigger than last night.

The group of five girls wandered around corridors, trying to get to the Great Hall in time for breakfast. They finally managed to find their way by following a group of Hufflepuf students, assuming they too, were going for breakfast.

They got to the table in time and just as they sat down the food appeared.

Jade noticed twins weren't here yet but Percy was already seated in his usual spot, reading thick book and eating a slice of toast. He smiled and wished her good morning but then returned to his reading.

"So, what do you think we'll do today?" asked Sue, now much more awake and friendly than before. She really was not a morning person and couldn't keep conversation very well before her morning shower and some breakfast.

"I hope we won't have many lessons on Friday, it'd be nice to have free afternoons and longer week-ends sort-of." Mused Maddie while she filed her bowl with cereal and milk.

"We should have a girls night some time! You know, magazines, nail polish, scented candles and gossip." Squeaked Katie, happy about her great idea.

"I have all we need from home. So what do you think? Maybe on Sunday so we could look pretty for school next week." Sue and Maddie joined her and giggled uncontrollably while Joyce looked at Jade a little bit scared. They both laughed at each-other's terrified faces.

"Well, why not, we could get to know each-other better, it could be fun." Said Jade unsure if she could ever find something like nail-polish "fun" but she wanted to have friends and she liked her roommates so far so she assumed it would be ok. Joyce nodded and shrugged "Yeah, should be fun."

The conversation was interrupted by McGonagall who came to the Gryffindor table and started to hand out sheets of white paper to all the older students.

Then she moved to the side where most first years were sitting.

"Alright students, here are your timetables. The first lesson today – flying will be replaced by our class conference where we'll go over the school rules and I'll explain where different classrooms are. I'll also answer any questions you might have. Then you will continue your day with two and a half hours of History of magic. Then lunch break and one and a half hour of herbiology.

It's short day and you'll finish your lessons at two." Smiled professor McGonagall, well aware that students loved free Friday afternoons.

"We'll go over the rest of your timetables later. Your flying lessons will normally start at eight and last for hour and a half but I'll give you some time to get settled so we'll meet in front of the History of magic classroom at half past eight.

It's on the second floor, west end, on the right side of the corridor with red tiles on the floor. I'm sure you'll find it or some of the older students will be happy to help you.

I'll see you soon then." She finished her speech and turned around lightly slapping Fred and George on their heads with the last two timetables she had left. She handed them the schedules and scolded: "Late, like always, you're lucky that second years have one free period on Friday mornings." And then she left.

"Good morning sis, slept well?" asked George pushing Jade to one side so he could reach for the toast.

"Yeah I…" started Jade but Fred pushed her from the other side and she was suddenly squished between her brothers.

"Get off of me." Laughed Jade as they poked and tickled her from each side.

"Wanting to get rid of us?" asked George pretending he was offended.

"That won't be easy, you're stuck with us." Announced Fred and they squished her even more from each side, high-fiving over her head.

"See you later, remember, we're going to show you around." Said Fred and snatched the timetable from Jade's hand, comparing it to his own schedule.

"Yup, that's right, you'll finish at two, we finish twenty minutes later. Do you wanna wait for us outside by the greenhouses if it's still sunny by then?" asked George.

"Yeah, why not…" started Jade, but twins interrupted her again:

"Ok, see you later."

"See ya!" called Jade as Fred and George grabbed a handful of toasts and walked out of the great Hall with their friends.

"Do you want to go back to our room? We still have forty minutes before the first lesson." Asked Maddie looking at her timetable.

"Why don't we just go outside and hang out by the lake? The common room is a long way from here and what if we get lost again?" suggested Sue and they all agreed.

The castle was standing in the middle of huge field surrounded by dark forest and huge lake which looked really deep and black in the middle but there was nice little beach on the shallow end – closest to the school. The beach was filled with little round stones and there were already groups of students sitting around on the grass or walking alongside the lake.

Let's go sit down on the grass!" exclaimed Maddie and pulled Joyce with her, running towards the lake.

Katie, Sue and Jade followed, still looking on their timetables.

"It's a shame we won't have flying lesson today." Commented Jade a little disappointed. It felt like she didn't sit on the broom for such a long time.

"I can't fly very well, I've never really practiced that much. We live on the coast so I've spent most of my free time swimming in the sea." Said Katie, smiling as she remembered the endless hours spent swimming and diving in the sea.

"Yeah, me neither, dad always tried to get me into kids' quidditch team at home but I wasn't very good at it, it's kind of scary going too fast." Added Sue when they sat down next to Maddie and Joyce and pulled out pink high-lighting marker and circled different subjects.

Jade relaxed and leaned back, looking at the lake. It was still pretty warm, surely one of the last warm days of the summer, but the wind was still pleasantly warm, blowing little waves on the water surface.

"Do you think we could swim in the lake some time?" asked Jade thinking about the pond they had home at the Burrow. Home – it still sounded strange to her, strange but somehow right.

"Josh, my brother, said it's too cold. The water is deep in the middle and it can never get warm enough to be good for swimming, besides there's giant squid living in the deep end." Said Katie and shuddered.

"Well, I'm sure they wouldn't keep it here if it was dangerous right?" asked Jade but she wasn't completely sure.

"Hmm, probably not, but I wouldn't risk it anyway." Said Sue.

They stayed outside for a while before it was time to get back.

"So, the classroom is supposed to be on second floor,…" said Maddie, reading the notes she scribbled into her notebook covered in pink glitter.

They found the classroom easily, half of their classmates were already inside waiting for the professor to come in.

Maddie sat down with Joyce, and Katie with Sue took the desk next to them, so Jade decided to sit in front of them and be closer to all four girls so they could talk easily until their professor arrived.

The seat next to Jade stayed empty, as well as all first row of desks, everyone tried to catch the seat at the back of the room because History of Magic followed and it was a well known fact that students had a tendency to fall asleep during the lecture.

The class conference like professor McGonagall called it was boring, she went over list of rules they had to follow.

Be in time for every lesson.

If any accident, injury or damage happens during the lesson they were to immediately alert their professor.

They had to follow instructions and practice magic only in classrooms.

Never go inside or near the forbidden forest unless they were accompanied by adults and had permission from professor….

After half an hour of rules which seemed absolutely stupid to Jade, professor explained the way everything works at school.

They were supposed to leave their dirty laundry in the laundry baskets, which were placed by the bathroom door and the laundry will be washed and returned to their rooms every Saturday morning.

Breakfast will start at 6:30 during school days and at 7:00 on week-ends, lunch break was marked on their schedules.

After the hour of unimportant information and useless directions – for how they get to different classrooms – which no one really remembered, McGonagall let them have a five minutes long pause and then after introducing professor Binns she left.

The Gryffindors were joined by Rawenclaw students (a boy named Arnold sat next to Jade but fell asleep shamelessly after only a couple of minutes) and suffered through full lecture on History of magic, because somehow professor Binns didn't realize today was the first day of school.

They even got a homework, two parchments long essay on History of magic as the subject. No one really knew what they were supposed to write in there but none of the students dared to ask.

They were happy to leave the classroom for lunch.

"Now, that was fun. Not." Yawned Sue, trying to rub off the ink smudge from Katie's chin – she fell asleep on her notes and woke up with right side of her face sporting nice copy of the history timeline.

The great hall was much busier now when all school had lunch around the same time and food was already on tables when Jade threw herself on the empty place next to Fred, totally exhausted and not yet completely awake.


	43. honorary prankster

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><p>"So…History of Magic!" laughed George, leaning to the front so he could see Jade over Fred. "Did you like it?" he asked pretending to be serious.<p>

Jade rolled her eyes and started to put food on her plate.

"Any plans for the afternoon?" Fred wanted to know, speaking with his mouth full of potatoes.

"Eww, Fred!" exclaimed Jade and pushed him further away.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George!" claimed Fred, trying to confuse his sis.

"No you're not. You two aren't even similar. Look at this freckle here…" said Jade pointing to Fred's left cheek. "This one is ma favorite and it's completely misplaced because George doesn't even have a freckle there."

Jade took her fork and started to eat but then she remembered the question.

"No, I don't have any plans, you said you were going to show me Hogwards." She said a little bit unsure. What if they didn't want to, maybe they already made plans with their friends, why would they even want her to hang around, she thought in a flash of old insecurities.

"Relax sis." Whispered Fred, after seeing the mix of emotions showing on Jade's face.

"We made plans for you, the grand tour of Hogwarts. Please put on your hiking shoes, we'll walk a lot." Announced Fred theatrically and started to shovel down his lunch.

Twins soon left, in a hurry as their next lesson was starting in two minutes.

"We'll meet you on the front steps around two ok? Hagrid says it'll be extremely hot today so you might want to change from your uniform after classes." Suggested George and they both run out of the Great Hall.

"How can you know which one is which?" asked Sue confused.

"Well they have lots of different …" started Jade but Maddie interrupted her.

"They are carbon copies, they even walk alike." She said watching the twins running out of the door.

"No, they don't." argued Jade. She saw so many different qualities in each of her brothers that it seemed impossible to her that people could think they are the same.

"so, do you girls have any plans for after school today?" asked Jade changing the theme.

"We're just going to lay down and relax by the lake, it's lovely down there." Said Katie, excited by the idea of lazy free afternoon spent doing nothing.

With all the classes and homework they were about to get, there won't be much time for laziness later.

"Sounds good, maybe I'll join you later." Said Jade and quickly finished her meal.

"Welcome students to the greenhouse number one. We'll start here today and I'll show you around. We have many interesting plants of which I'm proud. For example…" started Madame Sprout their Herbology teacher, as she walked across the long corridor in the middle of greenhouse.

It was hot and humid in there, and strangely quiet because large glass panels kept all the breeze outside.

Madame Sprout as first of their teachers understood that today is the first day of school and they wouldn't have much time to actually study something after all the safety explanations and rules.

"Off you go." She said smiling when she let the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins out on the fresh air.

"Don't forget to bring gloves for next lesson, we'll start with some planting." She called after them.

All five girls dropped their school bags on the ground when they entered their bedroom which was nicely cold after the heat of greenhouses.

"I'm exhausted!" exclaimed Joyce and jumped on her bed.

"And this was just the first day of school. We should start the homework tomorrow so we won't get behind." Suggested Katie, already writing a note to her planner.

"Yeah, whatever." Answered Sue and pulled out a stack of pink shiny magazines.

"Let's go outside and get some sunshine." She giggled, already pulling out a huge blanket from under her bed.

Girls changed to tank-tops and shorts. Jade went with them, Fred and George would see her from the front steps and she still had twenty minutes.

Girls spread the blanket and sat down. It was really hot and sunny, not a single cloud on the sky, but summer storm could always come out of nowhere.

"There you are!" called George, running alongside Fred in Jade's direction.

"We brought you some snacks ladies" Fred winked at them and handed out deliciously looking blueberry muffins.

"Where did you get them?" asked Maddie bewildered.

"That's a secret my dear." Said Fred shaking his head, to show her that is was useless to ask.

"Let's go then, are you ready?" said George and without waiting for Jade's answer they pulled her up and handed her the sneakers she took off.

Jade waved at her friends and then joined her brothers who were heading over to the small cottage standing on the side of the forest.

"Fred? Are you sure we can be here? It's too close to the Forbidden forest and you know…" Jade slowed down and hesitated if she should go any further.

Yeah, she liked adventures with twins, they were fun to be around but getting into trouble the first day of school…

"Don't be silly, of course we can be here, we won't be long, just going to check if Hagrid's here, he said he'll feed the giant squid later today." Said George pulling her hand.

But Hagrid wasn't home. He was nowhere to be seen and his big leather bag was gone too, however when they wanted to walk away, a sad barking echoed from behind the cottage.

"What was that?" asked Jade.

"Oh, that must be Fang, and if he's here, than it means Hagrid must be by the lake. He never takes Fang there because the dog's afraid of the giant squid. It's quite funny actually.

"No it's not funny, the poor dog is sad!" exclaimed Jade and run towards the dog which was tied on a long string by the pumpkin patch.

"Hi boy, oh you're a handsome big dog aren't you!" cooed Jade as she snuggled Fang who looked quite startled at first but then relaxed and started to lick Jade's face.

"Well…" started Fred, pointing in the direction of the lake, but he didn't know how to continue. Seeing Jade so relaxed and …herself… was odd. She never acted this confident at home.

"I'm sure Hagrid will let you play with him when he gets back, come on, let's find him." Said George and walked away.

Jade soon followed them, after patting the dog on his large head and promising she'll come back soon.

Fred and George made sure they showed Jade all hiding spots on the edge of the forest, they stopped by the Quidditch pitch which fascinated Jade and she suddenly wished she could fly there. Then they took a turn around the lake and finally found Hagrid standing on the rock folding his empty bag.

"Oi Hagrid!" called George because the man didn't see them and was about to go back home.

"Hey boys! You've missed it, just finished feeding the squid, she was hungry today, that she was." He smiled lovingly in the direction of the lake. Jade looked there and saw giant animal floating on the surface.

"Hagrid, this is our sister Jade." Said Fred pointing at Jade proudly.

"Oh yes, we've met yesterday, am I right?" Asked Hagrid and held out his huge hand for Jade to shake it.

"Yes sir, it's nice to see you again." She said politely.

"Oh call me Hagrid, like everyone else and enough with the sir." He smiled again and finished folding the bag.

"Hey Hagrid, Jade quite liked your dog, do you think we could stop by later so you could properly introduce them to each other?" suggested George and even though Jade glared at him at first, she seemed rather excited when Hagrid agreed and said it would be great idea.

"But let's go for a swim first!" exclaimed Fred and took Jade's hoodie which she was carrying around in case it started to rain.

George pulled down the sneakers she had hanging around her neck by the shoelaces ( enjoying walking barefoot after full day of her school shoes) and both boys grabbed Jade by her hands.

"What?!" she yelled, but it was too late and they jumped with her down from the rock.

It wasn't high, only six feet or so, and the fall didn't last long. After just a blink of an eye, the three of them hit the water and went under, cutting the dark surface of the lake with millions of white bubbles.

It was freezing.

"Boys, that wasn't very nice of you!" laughed Hagrid from above them.

"You. Are. Crazy. Fred and George Weasleys!" exclaimed Jade, trying to move her legs and arms as fast as she could, to warm herself up.

"Don't pretend you don't like it! You love swimming!" argued George and pushed Jade under water again. " tag! You're it!" he called when she resurfaced and started to swim as fast as he could along the shore.

"Jade laughed when she easily caught up with her brothers and swam under them, pulling both boys under water unexpectedly.

She could swim fast, really fast and soon the water didn't feel that cold anymore. She was getting used to the darkness of the lake and dived deeper, enjoying the freedom, when suddenly something touched her leg.

She screamed under water and swam towards the surface as fast as she could.

"Tag! You're it! The giant squid for the win!" laughed twins.

The animal resurfaced and started to float on her side, watching three kids with her giant eye. It looked so peaceful and gently than even Jade giggled on her own silliness. How could she be scared of this?

"Don't worry, she's a good girl, completely vegetarian – that's why we had to rescue her because she'd get eaten by some sperm whale if she stayed in the sea." Called Hagrid from the ground, he was slowly walking back to his hut, but keeping up with Weasleys for a while because he knew they'd get in trouble if they went swimming without supervision, heck, they'd probably get in trouble anyway.

"Aaaaa!" someone cried from the other side of the lake.

It were some fourth year girls who just spotted the giant squid, swimming unusually close to the shore, with Jade gently stroking it's side.

The cry terrified the squid and it let out gallons of ink and disappeared under water.

Jade's whole left side was now dark blue.

Fred and George laughed so much that Hagrid had to pull them out of the water because he wasn't sure if boys could keep swimming while laughing o hard.

They were both bright red and out of breath still laughing when Hagrid pulled Jade out.

"I think that's enough swimming for you lot." He said, and trying not to laugh pulled out his handkerchief to wipe as much ink as he could from Jade's face.

It worked quite well, but there were still splotches of blue around her ear and or course her left arm and leg were even darker.

"You'll need a good scrubbin' tonight." Announced Hagrid, desperately trying to clean Jade's face a little bit more.

"Don't ya worry, it'll come off with soap and warm water." He assured her and twins came to her side and hugged her around her shoulders.

"We're sorry sis, this wasn't out plan." Giggled George and squeezed Jade's shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry, but you have to admit it was quite funny." Nodded Fred, and Jade finally saw the bright side of the whole incident.

She laughed and hugged her brothers back.

"Of course you didn't mean it." She agreed and wiped her hand on their cheeks, leaving big smears of dark ink across their faces.

"Now we really look like family" she laughed and hid behind Hagrid when boys tried to grab her.

"Alright you, guys, it's going to rain soon! I think you should hurry back to the castle." Said Hagrid handing Jade her sneakers and wrapping the hoodie around her shoulders.

"Thank you." She said shyly while pulling her hands through the sleeves.

"You're welcome little one." Smiled Hagrid.

"Why don't you come visit me tomorrow after lunch?" he asked in general direction of the kids.

"Sure! Thanks Hagrid! See you tomorrow!" they all said good-bye and run back to the castle. They weren't fast enough and rain started to fall sooner than they reached the front door.

All the students were already inside, it was getting quite chilly and you could hear thunder.

"Now that was fun! We should go for a swim more often!" started Fred, walking backwards and winking on his two siblings.

"Too bad it's r…" started Jade but her eyes widened when she spotted professor McGonagall standing in by the staircase.

She didn't have enough time to stop Fred before he bumped into her with his back.

A guilty smile spread on his face as he turned around, already knowing who was there by the look of sheer terror on Jade's face.

"Well, Mr. Weasley, I hope you enjoyed your swim." She said strictly eyeing them all from heads to toes, shaking her head at the puddle slowly forming around their bare feet, water still dripping from Jade's hair.

"Are you aware that swimming in the lake is forbidden?" she asked, her lips forming a thin line.

"Well…" started Jade, but then just looked on her toes which were starting to turn blue from the cold stone floor.

"No, we didn't really know…" started George, "no one ever told us." Finished Fred looking innocently up on professor McGonagall.

"Well of course no one ever told you! Who could have thought you'll come up with something this…this…stupid!" exclaimed professor.

"It's freezing out there, there's giant squid and other creatures in the lake, the water is deep! And you just decide to go swimming without supervision of any professor! Can you imagine what could have happened?" she yelled at them.

"Hagrid was there ma'am." Whispered Jade.

"Well, …still, it's not safe and …and…! This is the first warning! You know how it works, she looked at the boys. After first warning, you make one step out of the line and I'm informing your parents!" she yelled at them.

"You might go now, but there will be no more swimming in the lake! Ever!"

Fred and George climbed the stairs but Jade turned around to the professor and quietly said: "I'm sorry professor, I didn't know it was forbidden."

"That's alright Miss Mraz, just don't let the two of them push you into every crazy thing they do, use your own head next time." Said professor McGonagall and rushed the girl up to the common room before she could catch cold.

When the three of them climbed through the portrait of Fat Lady there was a group of second years standing around the bulletin board.

"Hey! Fred! George! Quidditch try-outs tomorr… what happened to you?" laughed surprised Oliver Wood after looking at the Weasley twins.

"Couldn't stay out of trouble for one day?" asked Lee Jordan, "and you had to drag your baby sister with you? I bet your mom will be happy." He laughed.

"We only got a warning for this one" Fred and George high-fived each other, " and this, my dear friend, is not our baby sister, this is a honorary sis of ours, and she'll be a mighty fine prankster once we start with the real mischief." Said George, proudly setting his hand on Jade's shoulder.

Then they turned around and said to their sister.

"Don't worry about it, it was fun right? And mom doesn't really get mad when we get in trouble, as long as we keep good grades and study well, she won't mind hearing from old McGonagall now and then." They assured her and Jade felt a little bit better.

She did enjoy the swimming and if it was ok with Molly, than she didn't really mind getting in some small trouble, because that meant she'll be spending more time with the twins and let's face it, she has never been a rule follower, not really.


	44. late night snack

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><p>After quick hot shower and good scrubbing, Jade walked beck to her room all red from the steam.<p>

"So What are you guys up to?" she asked, sitting down on her bed, still trying to dry her hair with the towel.

"Not much." Said Sue throwing her plush beat in the air and catching it again. "Should we go down for dinner?"

"Yeah, probably, are we supposed to wear school uniform again?" asked Jade jumping up from bed.

"I think so, but relax, we still have plenty of time." Assured her Katie who was braiding her hair in front of the mirror.

It was still raining outside and the sky was almost black but the darkness was quite frequently interrupted by bright lightning, closely followed by thunder.

"This sucks. I don't like rain." Complained Joyce and turned on the Christmas lights which filled their bedroom with soft glow and it instantly looked more cosy.

"What do you say to horror stories before bed?" exclaimed Katie, we could sit on the floor and everyone would tell their favorite one! That should be fun!"

Girls agreed and started to get ready for dinner.

Jade pulled on her white shirt, skirt and robes before finger-combing her hair.

"Ready to go." She announced and run down the stairs, suddenly realizing how hungry she was from all the swimming.

"Wait for us Jade!" laughed Sue as she caught up with Jade and pulled her back by the robes.

"Someone's hungry after swimming?" teased Maddie.

"You know about that?" asked Jade surprised. Did the whole Gryffindor house already knew?

"We saw you running back from the lake with your brothers and you were soaking wet so we figured it wasn't only from rain but now you're busted!" laughed Maddie.

"Did you really go swimming in the lake? The lake?" couldn't believe Sue.

"Well it wasn't planned, or something, we just jumped in and…" Jade wasn't sure what to say. Now it really sounded like crazy idea.

"That's insane." Commented Sue but she sounded impressed.

they walked in the Great Hall and soon after they sat down the food appeared.

All the tables were full of students , apparently dinner really was the official ending of the day.

Loud chiming of silver fork on crystal glass interrupted the chatting of students over dessert and professor Dumbledore walked in front of the teachers' table.

"Please don't let me keep you from eating the delicious pudding, my personal favorite,…" he smiled. "Since we won't have another official dinner together until Monday because as you know the meals during week-ends are free and you might come and go as you wish, I'd like to use this opportunity for one announcement.

It was brought to my attention that we didn't clearly…let you know that swimming in the lake is off limits. My bad, my bed, I apologize. Clearly a lake which might seem like too cold and deep to swim in -to my old mind, is for the youth an inviting place where they wish to swim. That's why we've decided to clarify that swimming in our school lake should be forbidden unless you obtain a spatial permission from the head of your house and have supervision of at least one of your professors."

A wave of giggles and exclamation from unbelieving students erupted in the Great Hall.

"Oh, I assure you that yes, indeed, three of our students found it to be suitable place to cool off during today's extremely hot afternoon, that's why we're telling you now that since tonight the new rule was established. I'm sorry for any future inconvenience this might cause for your planned swimming trips. My apologise, Fred, George, Jade." Bowed Dumbledore and he truly looked sorry.

An explosion of laugher covered the rest of Dumbledore's words so he just turned around and went to finish the plum pudding.

Fred and George looked pleased with the attention they received, it helped their reputation greatly, starting a year with afternoon swim with giant squid was nice addition to their account as mischief-makers but Jade sat on her place with face red like tomato trying to hide from all the comments and teasing, until she realized it was all well meant and people quite liked the story about their little adventure, well, everyone except Percy who was assuring those who would listen that this was not acceptable in their family and not all Weasleys behaved like that.

When the dinner was over girls agreed to meet in their room at nine and they went up to the Gryffindor tower to just relax in the common room.

Jade however hurried over to Hufflepuff table where she saw Deric packing some book back to his school bag.

"Hi! So how was your first day?" asked Jade happy to see her first Hogwards' friend again.

"Well, not as exciting as yours apparently." Laughed Deric who looked even happier that she came to talk to him.

"Hey deric? We'll wait for you in the common room, k?" asked a tall boy with straight brown hair, looking at Jade with interest.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." Answered Deric and turned back to Jade.

"I see you have new friends." Teased Jade, remembering how he was worried kids wouldn't like him.

"Well, yeah, they're my roommates." Said Deric as if it was the reason why they were hanging out with him.

"I think they really like you, that boy wouldn't make sure you know they'll wait for you if he was just your roommate. You are friends." Said Jade in a tone which ended any argument on this topic.

"Yeah, right. So…it was nice to see you again…" started Deric and half turned in the direction of the door.

"Sure it was. We'll have transfiguration together on Monday but I wanted to make sure we'll see each other before that." Smiled Jade happily.

"Why?" asked Deric surprised.

"Well, I just thought it would be nice to, catch up, see what's new, I don't know, I thought it could be fine to have a friend from different house… never mind. Maybe you should hurry up, I'm sure your friends are waiting for you." Said Jade feeling a little bit sad, because it seemed that the boy wanted to be friends anymore.

"No, of course…oh, I always say something stupid, sorry. Of course I want to be friends I just wasn't sure why you'd want to… maybe we could get together some time tomorrow?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"Yeah, that would be great, Gryffindor's having Quidditch try-outs in the morning and my brothers are going there so I wanted to watch them, but I'm not sure when that is. How early do you wake up on week-ends?" asked Jade going over her plans for tomorrow in her head.

"What about 7. a.m. ? That's when they start breakfast and we could plan something then – I think teams usually fly early in the morning, so you would have to get up anyways." Smiled Deric.

"Alright, see you at breakfast." Sid Jade and walked in the opposite direction after they said their good-byes.

It was half past eight already and she still wanted to ask Fred and George to tell her some horror story really quick, because she didn't know any.

She found them in the common room, surrounded by a group of their friends, all sitting on the back of two couches they pulled together, creating a little closed circle.

The were laughing really loud and playing exploding snap with what seemed like a pile of knuts. Jade didn't think Molly would be impressed with that but she wasn't going to tell on them.

"Amm, George?" she asked quietly. She was almost sure they couldn't hear her through all the noise from explosions and all the laughing, but they both turned around and jumped out of the couch boot.

"Sorry guys, we win!" called George and put a handful of knuts in his pocket, leaving only two or three for the other winners.

"How can we help you ma'am?" asked Fred, grabbing Jade's hand and kissing her knuckles.

"At your service ma'am" added George and kissed her other hand.

"May I add you've scrubbed yourself splendidly from all the ink but you've missed a spot right here" Fred pointed to a tiny ink blob on the inside of Jade's pinkie finger.

"Well, sir, thank you kindly, I tried my best with the scrubbing." Giggled Jade and pulled her hands out of twins' grip.

"Listen, do you know any good horror stories? We're going to tell them to each other tonight and I don't know any, and you know, I want to fit in." whispered Jade, looking desperate.

We might have something better than horror story for you to fit in like you said." Whispered George back.

What would you say to a little snack? That would make you the favorite story teller of the group without any story." Fred winked at her and they both pulled her out of the common room.

"Horror stories are overrated." Explained Fred as they walked down some corridors where Jade haven't been before.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure you'll only need one or two and the girl who suggested this has it covered." Continued George.

"However, a nice big bowl of popcorn or caramel toffee and few cans of pumpkin juice, that's the real addition to the party." Grinned Fred and tickled a pear on one painting.

HE really just did that. He tickled a pear.

Jade couldn't believe her eyes. The painting swung to the side and behind it was giant room full of little creatures with huge eyes and ears, all wearing some kind of togas made out of tea towels. They all looked extremely busy, carrying around dirty dishes and pots, but when George stopped one of them, he looked happy to be able and help Master George, as he called the boy.

"Minky, would you be so kind and help us get some snacks for tonight? You see, there will be some story telling and we'd love it if you could give us a bowl of some crackers or something. Just something small." Asked Fred.

The elf looked angry for a while. "You won't get anything small here Master Fred. We never do anything small, we create dinners for knights, afternoon tea for the queen, breakfast for professor Dumbledore and epic snack for any story telling party, but never something small, and no crackers here!" exclaimed elf and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly three other elves appeared next to him, carrying big paper boy of hot popcorn with butter, small pack of caramels, one six-packs of pumpkin juice and one of butter beer, end one of them balanced a stack of small plastic cups filled with chocolate ice cream. They had caps on and wouldn't melt until opened, explained the elf, handing Jade five spoons.

"Thank you so much, Minky. You're a treasure." Bowed Fred and waved at the rest of the elves who happily waved back.

"It was our pleasure Master Fred, please come back soon, we enjoy your company very much." The elf bowed back and then turned around rushing the rest of his companions back to work.

Jade was just standing there with open mouth, until George pulled he away.

She was still in shock when they reached the portrait of Fat lady.

"Now, that should be enough snacks for you girls right?" chuckled George but was surprised by Jade pulling them both into hug.

"You're awesome guys! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed and squeezed them even harder.

"That's nice to be appreciated." Laughed Fred. "now, here's my bag, you'll give it back tomorrow. He said and carefully placed all the food in his empty school bag.

"Why do you carry your school bag around?" asked Jade as she slowly swung it over her shoulder.

"It's a habit of ours, you never know what you might find, or what you might need to secretly carry through a common room full of hungry people." Said George patting his own bag.

"You're the best!" said Jade and climbed through the portrait.

"Oh, hey guys? You're going to the team try-outs tomorrow?" she asked remembering the notice on the board.

"Yeah, do you wanna cheer for us?" asked Fred looking hopeful.

"Sure, I'd love to see if you're as good as you claim to be." She chuckled.

"Is it open for everyone or just Gryffindors?"

"Uh-oh, our baby sister has a date!" exclaimed George laughing but Fred looked really serious. "Who is it? Do we know him?"

"Will you stop it! It's not a date, I just want to spend some time with a friend, he's from Hufflepuff, do you think it would be a problem?" asked Jade.

"Nope, try-outs are public, it's only the trainings that Wood tries to keep secret." Said George. "It's at eight, do you think you'll be up by then?"

"Yeah, sure, see you there. And thanks again for…you know." She lifted the bag a little and smiled widely before running up the stairs.

"Hey girls, sorry I'm late." Jade apologized when she entered their bedroom and found them spreading the blanket on the floor while Sue arranger pillows on the sides.

"Finally! We were going to look for you if you didn't come soon. Where were you? I didn't see you in the common room." Asked Maddie, looking a little bit worried.

"Well, you'll be happy that I'm late when you see what I brought with me." Giggled Jade, pulling her PJs top over her head.

She pulled down the blanket from her bed and tucked it around herself after sitting down next to Sue.

Jade opened the bag and pulled out the box of popcorn which was still warm. Then she handed out drinks and finally spoons and ice cream.

"You've got to be kidding me!" squealed Katie in delight when she opened the cap from her ice cream and tasted the chocolate topping.

"You are the best!" they all agreed but Jade explained it was all her brothers' doing and promised to thank them tomorrow.

"Oh, and I'm going to watch the quidditch try-outs tomorrow, and Deric, my friend from Hufflepuff's coming too. Do you wanna join us?" asked Jade already excited

for tomorrow.

"Hmmm, when do they start?" asked Katie still licking the spoon from her ice cream.

"Eight in the morning." Stated Jade simply.

"No way! Sorry but I'm gonna sleep until ten tomorrow and then maybe get up and go for really late breakfast." Laughed Sue.

"Yeah, same here, are you insane to get up that early on Saturday?" asked Maddie shaking her head.

"Well, they are my brothers and I love flying." Shrugged Jade.

"We could meet at half past ten in Great Hall and then go somewhere and write the essay for history of magic." Suggested Katie.

"Yeah, sounds good." Everyone agreed.

"Now enough with school already. Are you prepared for the scare of your life?" asked Katie with deep voice and turned off the lights, leaving only her wand to illuminate her face from below.

"It was late, stormy night and five girls were sitting on the floor, surrounded by darkness…"


	45. nightmare

**Another chapter – not very exciting, but as soon as twins find time for mischief there'll be more craziness – I'm just giving them some worry-free year before the Philosopher's stone…**

**I have a question – should I keep the story like this – describing life of "ordinary" student at Hogwards – with some family drama and pranks, or do you want me to speed up and let Jade grow up faster?**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! thank you Ellie, Dragonslayer101, Cookie05, and guest for reviewing and also thanks to the guest reviewer who pointed out some of my typos - I'll fix them as soon as I find some free time.**

**thank you guys, I'm happy you like it so far.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade woke up suddenly. The back of her tee (which was actually Bill's old Quidditch tee) was all sweaty, sticking to her skin.<p>

It was dark outside, but the sky was slashed in half with bright lightning.

Great, another storm was starting.

But it wasn't thunder that woke her up. It was a nightmare.

They finished their horror stories around eleven and went to bed, tired and stuffed with all the snacks Jade brought.

The story was quite scary and Katie told it in low hushed voice with loud "BANG" at the end. It scared all the girls at first but they laughed about it before they went to bed.

Jade's nightmare wasn't about vampires under her bed – like in the story.

No, her bad dreams were the same like always.

_She was standing by the gate, watching Weasleys having picnic in their backyard. They looked so happy together, and Jade wanted to go to them and sit on the ground and maybe play with Ginny in the mud, or just cuddle close to Molly, just like Ron did._

_But every time she was about to make the first step, the Weasleys suddenly looked her way. Twins with disgust, clearly portrayed on their faces jumped up and watched like Arthur walked over to the gate and shut it closed in front of Jade. Then without looking at her he walked back to his family and pulled Ginny up into his arms, lifting her off the ground, they all together walked inside._

_And Jade was left alone again._

That's when she usually woke up screaming. Luckily this time she couldn't wake anyone up because of the charms that were placed on her bed.

She felt tears slowly falling down her cheeks and she wiped them angrily with her hand but that didn't stop them from coming.

Jade wasn't really awake yet, still a little bit confused from the dream, and still scared.

What if she did something bad and Weasleys wouldn't want her anymore, what if…

And then she remembered the letter. It was almost finished and she meant to ask Fred or George where the school owls were, but she forgot.

Molly asked her for one thing, one single thing and she couldn't even do that right.

He climbed out of the bed and grabbed the letter from her trunk, slowly walking out of the room.

She run downstairs and put the letter on one of the tables in their common room, looking at it and trying really hard to think about something really nice and interesting to add there.

It already had the description of her room and new friends, she even added signature on the bottom of the page, but it seemed boring. And Jade was sure Molly wouldn't be interested n such boring letters. But she couldn't think of anything, and those stupid tears started to fall again.

She pulled her knees up to her chin and hugged them , burying her face in soft flannel of her PJ pants.

Fred woke up suddenly. He had no idea as why, but something was off. Like always, when one of the twins woke up, the second brother didn't stay asleep for long, and George was already awake shuffling through the mess on his bedside table looking for wand.

"What's wrong?" he asked sounding really groggy.

"Jade." Whispered Fred, not sure why, but suddenly he knew something was wrong with Jade. He pulled out the marauders' map they were hiding under his bed and George pointed to it, whispering quietly.

The lines started to form on the old parchment, but Fred didn't wait for the title to show, he went through the pages, easily finding the map of Gryffindor's tower, and there she was. Tiny little dot with Jade's name next to it.

George cursed under his breath, knowing that something had happened and followed Fred out of their dorm room, pulling on his sweater from last Christmas.

They run down the staircase only to find Jade curled in ball, silently sobbing, face covered with her light brown hair.

She didn't look up, sensing it was them. She knew the sound of twins' running down the stairs, she remembered it from Burrow. Burrow… she started to cry again, shaking violently.

"What's wrong?" asked Fred, sitting next to his little sister from the other side, George already occupying the spot on her left.

"It's… nothing." She choked out between sobs and even managed small smile before she broke again.

"Go to sleep…you..need to get up…early tomorrow." She tried to push Fred away, back in the direction of bedrooms.

"No way. We're staying." Announced George after confused glance from Fred.

"Did you have another nightmare?" asked George, guessing, it could be the reason.

Jade nodded yes.

"Will you tell us about it?" tried Fred. She never told them about her nightmares, before and this time again she whispered a soft no.

"it's nothing, really… go back to bed." She insisted.

"We're staying." Repeated Fred and stood up, looking around the common room.

"Do you want to sleep in here for the night?" he asked matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, just like the good old days when you used to wake us up at home." Laughed George, nudging Jade to her side. She laughed shortly and wiped her face to the hem of her oversized shirt.

"You sure?" she asked, hiccupping a little.

"Of course we're sure, now, come on." Fred pulled her out of the chair, pointing to the two sofas, which were still pulled together, from the previous evening when boys played exploding snap there. They formed a nice double bed, wide enough for three kids to comfortably fit in there.

Jade climbed over the back of the couch and Fred and George snuggled close to her from each side. They tried to squish her which was followed by a short giggle before She turned to her side, hiding her face between George's shoulder and the cushions.

"Go to sleep." Whispered Fred and pulled a quilt which was covering the back of the second couch over the three of them.

At six in the morning a polite coughing, discrete, but loud enough to wake them up, echoed over the sleeping children.

Fred and George were sleeping with one leg over the back of the sofa (one of them on each side), lightly snoring, while Jade's hair was barely sticking out from under the blanket.

"Oh, good morning professor." Yawned George, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, while Fred stretched his hands over his head, the short white tee pulling up slightly.

"What a nice surprise to see you this early in the morning." Added Fred.

Jade was just sitting in-between her brothers, feeling well rested and confused.

"A house elf informed me early in the morning that they found three students sleeping in the common room. Two boys and one girl. I don't have to tell you this is against school rules, you are supposed to sleep in your rooms." She started without as much as good morning.

"It was my fault professor." Started Jade, "I…I had a bad dream and George and Fred found me here and… it always helps at home when I don't have to sleep alone after nightmares so…It's all my fault." She tried to explain.

"Well Miss Mraz, if you need any sleeping potion, our school nurse will give it to you so you don't have to …camp out here on the sofas, and as for you two, she turned to the twins, I think you have Quidditch try-outs today. Our team could use some talented players this year, so don't give me any reason to give you detention today. Do you understand?" they all nodded and climbed out of their makeshift bed.

"I hope this won't happen again." She said coldly but before she walked out of the common room she turned around and wished boys good luck at the try-outs.

"Uff that was awkward." Laughed George.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." Apologized Jade again, feeling guilty for causing trouble in the morning of the try-outs.

"Nah, we wanted to stay, it's much more fun to have a sleep-over with you…" started Fred,

"Than sleeping in the room with Lee who's snoring louder than werewolf." Finished George.

"We should go get ready for the day." – added Fred

"You're still coming to cheer for us right?" asked George before disappearing up the stairs, without waiting for an answer.

"Sure I am." Smiled Jade to herself and jogged up back to her room.

It was cold, dull morning, all sunny summer days were gone.

When Jade looked out of her window, she could see Hagrid with Fang slowly walking to their home, probably coming back from early morning check up of the school grounds.

The grass was sprinkled with dew and it looked almost silver in the daylight.

No sun for now, sighed Jade and grabbed a long-sleeved shirt from the dresser.

She was glad Molly packed her wellies and a pair of hand-knitted legwarmers, and a sweater-vest with short sleeves to cover her shoulders.

It was week-end, no uniforms for two days.

Jade skipped down the corridors, clearly remembering the way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

It wasn't even seven yet, but she was hungry, and decided she wouldn't bother with shower this morning because she showered yesterday after the swim in the lake and besides, the morning felt too cold for taking showers.

Deric was already waiting for her at the entrance.

"Hey!" she exclaimed and run over to give him a hug, a habit she picked up from Weasleys. Jade was never a hugger per-say, before.

"Hi, I like your wellies." chuckled Deric looking at Jade's outfit. She was wearing cut-off jeans again, because she didn't like to stuff long pants in her rain-boots and legwarmers kept her knees warm enough.

"Well, thank you kindly sir." Laughed Jade and spun around to give him a complete view.

"Let's get some breakfast and then we could go and see the try-outs if you want. I asked Fred and George and they say it's public event, everyone's invited, although I'm not sure if there'll be many people out there because of the weather." Chatted Jade as they walked over to the tables.

"Mine or your place?" joked Deric.

"Let's see, your table has plum jam, and we only have raspberry here so it's definitely your place." Decided Jade and pulled him over to the Huflepuff table.

Fred, George and the whole Gryffindor team, dressed in quidditch uniforms, plus a couple more boys and girls walked in, sitting close to each other behind the table and talking loudly about Quidditch teams and brands of brooms.

The twins waved in Jade's direction, and smiled widely, before sitting down and joining the conversation.

"Alright, let's go." Said Deric and got up from the table, offering his arm to help Jade get over the bench, when the Gryffindor's walked out of the hall.

Jade and Deric climbed up to watch the try-outs from the tribunes.

They were the only ones, apart from a fan-club of Oliver Wood – a group of girls giggling about how cute the captain was. Luckily they choose to sit on the opposite side.

Wind was blowing really hard today and half of the students who came to get a place in the team were literally blown away in the first round, when Wood asked them to fly as fast as they could around the pitch.

Fred and George were excellent flyers, Jade knee that, but now, compared to the rest of the students they looked even more skilled and she cheered loudly, followed by a "whoa – wooo!" from Deric who also clapped and jumped with her when twins flew next to them.

The try-outs continued, with different groups of students, applying for different positions, and while Jade waited for her brothers to fly, she talked to Deric about everything that happened, and about her plans for the week-end.

"We're going to study with girls after the try-outs and then, after lunch, Hagrid invited me and Fred and George over. He has this really big, cute dog. I'm sure he would love it if you came too." She added, looking hopefully at Deric. She really wanted to hang out with him and get to know him better, because she knew they'd be great friends but with her brothers and roommates, there wasn't much free time left.

"No, that's ok, we're going to play football with boys from my room, two of them are muggle-born and they promised to teach the rest of us, it should be fun." He said, sounding proud that his roommates wanted to include him in their plans.

"Sure! I loved playing football when I was in London, you'll love it!" she said cheerfully, "but maybe we could hang out some more tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Agreed Deric and cheered as Fred flew close to them, holding what looked like short baseball bat.

There was a laud crack as he hit a heavy black ball, with perfect aim sending it over to George who smacked it and send it back to his twin. It looked like they were having fun, even sending the two balls through the circles at the end of the pitch.

Jade glanced over to Oliver Wood who was watching them with raised eyebrows, clearly impressed with the skills and coordination of twins. They were born to fly, and they could work together really well, gaining them both a place in the team.

Jade was so happy, she run down from the tribunes and jumped on her two brothers, hugging them around their necks.

"You were the best!" she exclaimed. "oh I wish I could fly around for a while." She said dreamily.

"Thanks for coming and cheering for us" said Fred and he together with George, they kissed on each side of her head.

"We'll see you later, Wood wants us to wait for the end of the try-outs and go over the rules – just boring stuff." Explained George.

Jade waved at them for the last time, still smiling wide, proud of her brothers.

"We have this essay about History of Magic, to write." Groaned Jade on the way back to the castle.

"There's this awesome book in the library, it's called Brief Magical History, and you can basically just copy the introduction for the essay. We have the same homework." Said Deric. "We went to the library yesterday with Jack."

"Could you show me where it is?" asked Jade excited. Library would be perfect place for hanging out with the girls and do homework, and if they had that book in there, they could finish the essays in no time.

"Sure, let's go. I still have some time left before I'm supposed to meet the guys." Said Deric and pulled Jade by her sleeve.

It was awesome to have friends, life felt almost normal, well, as normal as it can be with Fred and George and their next prank with which Jade was supposed to be helping them.


	46. tea and cake

**Hello, thanks for commenting! – Ellie, and anonymous guest! **

**Here's another chapter.**

**I've uploaded a picture of Jade to my profile – I'm not sure if you can see it somehow? Or do I need to add it directly to the story? – I have no idea how that works… anyway, here's another little chapter, I hope you'll like it.**

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><p>The library was huge, and girls loved it. Sitting by the window, which was high, all the way up to the ceiling and casted awesome bright daylight on the tables standing alongside the wall. It was perfect place for homework, and Jade could already see herself spending afternoons here, writing all the essays and assignments they would get during the year.<p>

It was almost lunch-time and Katie, Maddie and Sue decided to head down to the Great Hall after they finished the essays.

Jade still had a couple of paragraphs she wanted to write so she stayed behind. There were more awesome books about history than the one recommended by Deric and they were actually interesting.

Jade wanted to put some work into this homework, she knew there won't be time later to pay this much attention to other assignments but she had time now, so why not do it properly.

Joyce stayed sitting on her chair opposite Jade, telling girls she needs to finish hers too.

"So?" Jade looked up at Joyce, before she turned the page of the book and scribbled few more pages down.

"You want something. Your essay's finished. It's been finished for a while now." Stated Jade calmly and put down the quill, rolling her parchment and carefully placing it in her bag.

"Yeah, I just…" started Joyce, looking uneasy.

Jade just smiled at her encouragingly.

"We are friends, right?" asked Joyce looking Jade straight into the eyes.

"Sure we are. Do you need my help with something? Or…if you just need to talk to someone, we can hang out more, maybe go for a walk if you want to discuss something private?" asked Jade, trying to guess what was the matter.

"That's actually what I wanted to offer…you know, if you ever need to talk to someone, about anything, you know…you can talk to me." Said Joyce suddenly looking shy.

"Well, …ahem… thanks, I guess." Said Jade a little bit confused.

"It's just that,…can I ask you something personal?" whispered Joyce.

"Yeah?" – said Jade slowly, not really knowing where this was going.

"Well, Fred and George Weasley are your brothers? And, you are…" started Joyce,

"…adopted." Finished Jade, looking at her friend, expecting her to be shocked, but she wasn't.

"Yeah," continued Joyce as if that wasn't the reason of this strange conversation.

"I just, I noticed you kept your last name, and I know this is none of my business …oh this is really lame, I shouldn't have started it, you don't even know me that well, why would you want to talk to me." Mumbled Joyce and looked down on her hands.

"No, I mean, that's alright, I knew people would notice, after all, I don't really look like Weasley, do I?" smiled Jade pointing to her short hair.

"Well, I just thought that if you ever wanted to talk about something, I can listen really well, that's what my mom says, and I won't tell anyone if you don't want to, you know." Explained Joyce still feeling a little bit awkward.

"I never really talked about it, not even with Fred and George." Said Jade, "but, it's not really a secret. I just wanted to keep the last name because it's the only thing I have left from my parents. I don't even remember them, you know. And Molly understood, because after all, last name isn't what makes you belong to a family. Weasleys can be my family now even if we don't share the name." said Jade, proudly, realizing just now, how much truth those words were hiding.

"Yeah, that's not what I meant, I just thought that if you're sad sometimes or miss someone, or just want to talk about …something, I'm here." Said Joyce.

"I know you are, and thanks for saying it. You really are a good friend and one day I might take you up on that offer, just… not yet." Said Jade and walked around the table to hug her friend.

They walked down to lunch together and soon conversation turned to lighter topic.

Fred and George walked over to them, both dressed in identical sweaters and jeans.

"We've been looking for you sis." Started George,

"ready to go to Hagrid's place for a cup of tea and rock-hard piece of cake?" laughed Fred and they both pulled Jade out from the bench, dropping her down between them.

"Yeah, sure, just let me put my bag back to our bedroom…" started Jade but Joyce took it from her.

"I'll put it on your bed, don't worry." She smiled at Jade.

The girls stayed behind after lunch, sitting at the table and discussing the latest gossip they heard about teachers and lessons they'll have next week.

"Alright then, see you later. And thank you!" Called Jade as boys pulled her out of the castle.

It was rather sunny, with few occasional clouds, lazily swimming on the blue sky. The lake looked even darker and there was definitely the scent of autumn in the air.

"Congratulations again!, so you're going to be beaters?" asked Jade, almost running to keep up with her brothers.

"Yeah, Wood was pretty excited, we'll have a nice team this year, we just lack someone good for seeker but that's ok for now." They explained.

The wind started to blow harder and soon they couldn't hear each other, so they run towards the cottage and Fred knocked loudly on the door.

Hagrid opened it just enough for them to get inside, while he was trying to block the way for Fang, who was trying to escape.

Once the door was closed, the dog stopped jumping up and down and settled down next to Jade, licking her face all around.

"He remembers ya alright!" laughed Hagrid and turned around to pull the kettle down from the fire.

"want some peppermint tea, you lot? I go the best peppermint leaves from Madame Sprout." Said Hagrid proudly and poured four cups of strong tea. Well, it was more like buckets, but the tea was delicious, sweetened with wild dark honey from the bees living in Forbidden forest and softened with milk.

"Here's some cake, help yourselves." Smiled Hagrid and pushed a plate with a loaf of cake sliced into big chunks forward.

While George and Fred chatted about their newest inventions and were asking Hagrid if there's some way how they could get through the whooping willow, Jade sat at the end of the bench, patting Fang with one hand on his head, while trying to keep the cake out of his reach.

It was rather hard, but there were lots of raisins in it and it wasn't too bad with tea.

"So, did you get in trouble for yer swimmin'? asked Hagrid pushing away Fangs, who noticed his master taking a slice of the cake, but the dog returned back to Jade after he saw the cake disappear in one second.

"No, just a lecture from McGonagall, " said Fred,"she couldn't be really mad after we told her you were there with us." Finished George and slipped his hand under the table, where Fang gladly inhaled the piece of cake George was giving him.

"Jade, you're doing alright at school?" asked Hagrid, trying to include shy Jade to their conversation.

"It's alright, I suppose." She shrugged, scratching Fang behind his huge ear.

"Don't you let these two keep you from studying. First year is hard." He nodded n her direction.

Jade just smiled, feeling quite happy, just sitting there and looking at all the interesting things Hagrid had inside.

But Hagrid knew a lot about the school grounds, and soon Jade was pulled into the conversation, asking questions herself.

They didn't even notice how time flew by so Hagrid had to remind them it's time to go back to school for dinner.

The sky was dark grey, with black clouds on the horizon – great, another stormy night, thought Jade.

She met with girls in the Great Hall, and they waited for her before starting the meal.

Students were coming and going, and there was a lot of noise so Jade didn't even notice Deric until he was standing directly behind her.

"Hi, Jade?" he nudged her shoulder.

"Hey Deric! Oh, let me introduce you to my friends – Joyce, Maddie, Sue and Katie, girls, this is Deric." She smiled, pointing at everyone as she introduced them.

They all said hi and then got back to their conversation.

"So, I was thinking if you wanted to hang out some time tomorrow?" asked Deric sounding unsure.

"Yeah! That would be great. We could have breakfast together again and then we can do whatever you want." Suggested Jade.

"Alright, I'll be here at 8?" asked Deric.

"Sure, it's ok with me." Agreed Jade and they said their good-bye and the Hufflepuff left the great hall. Jade couldn't help but think there was something sad on him.

She'll have to find out tomorrow.

Girls walked back to their room, feeling sleepy after dinner, but it wasn't quite time to sleep yet.

"I got a package from mom this morning." Maddie informed Jade. "She sent me some things to decorate our room." She announced happily and unwrapped the brown package on her bed.

There was small yellow rug, some candy and a couple of folded posters.

"We have to have the best room this year!" cheered Katie and pulled out her own stack of posters which still needed to be hung.

Girls started decorating, Sue helped to move Jade's bed to the side, so it was now standing against the wall, and that created space big enough for the new rug.

Then Sue decided she wanted her bed against the wall too, and they all moved the beds a little. They were now standing alongside the wall, in half-circle, leaving huge space in the middle.

"We could ask one of the older girls if they know how to make the rug bigger and we could place in here to the middle of the room. It would be perfect for sitting down on it when we'll have girl-nights!" exclaimed Maddie and run out of the room, holding the rug in her hand.

The rest of the girls just looked at each other surprised, but it didn't took long and Maddie stumbled into the room, dragging huge yellow rug behind her.

"The seventh year girls said it's no problem and look!" she exclaimed happily, spreading the rug in the middle of their room.

"And they have even better bedroom than us. You should have seen all the decorations!" she added. "We still have a long way to go."

The room looked much bigger now, but also brighter and Jade really liked it, she was just a little sad looking at her bed standing next to bare wall.

She looked at her nightstand and there it was. The letter she wanted to send to Molly! She panicked and run out of the room, still in her PJs with an old flannel shirt on top, quickly explaining her friends, she needed to sent the letter.

Fred and George weren't downstairs, but Jade found Percy, sitting by the fire with books all around him.

"Hmm Percy?" she asked quietly, but still startled him and he jumped out of the armchair.

"Merlin's underpants! You scared me." He whispered looking around to see if anyone saw the incident, but common room as almost empty.

"I just,… could you show me where the owls are? I'd like to send a letter to… home." She said, looking at him. "please?"

Percy glanced at the clock, they still had an hour before bedtime. "Alright, let's go."

Jade followed him in complete silence, he looked tired, probably from all the studying, she thought, but didn't dare to ask. Percy didn't like when people acknowledged how tired he looked.

"Did you have nice first day?" she asked, interrupting the silence as they climbed up the stairs in some tower where Jade wasn't before.

"It was alright, what about you?" he smiled shortly.

"Alright." Nodded Jade.

"Is that a letter for mom? She'll be glad you're writing her. I've sent my letter yesterday, of course, but she's always happy to hear from all of us.

Fred and George never find time to write her, sometimes McGonagall writes mom sooner than them, complaining about their pranks already." Said Percy, opening door on top of the tower. There was a breeze and light smell coming from the room and when Jade came in, she saw hundreds of owls sitting in small shelters all around the walls. Windows had no glass in them and the owls could come in and out whenever they wanted.

Jade felt a little bit guilty. If McGonagall wrote to Burrow yesterday, complaining about their swimming adventure, she would have written to Burrow sooner than Jade.

"Here, you can use any of there, they are school owls." Percy interrupted her thoughts and pointed to the wall full of brown birds.

One of them flew down and landed on his outstretched hand.

Jade tied the letter to it's leg and the owl flew out of the window, looking excited to have some job.

They walked back to the common room together, but Jade finally found enough courage, just before they stopped in front of the entrance and asked:

"Percy? Could you show me where's the hospital wing?" she whispered, quite embarrassed.

"Now?" Percy was really surprised. "Eh, sure, are you alright?" he asked carefully looking his sister over to find something wrong with her, something that would need medical attention.

"Yeah, it's just the nightmares." Said Jade blushing as they walked through the corridors.

"Is it that bad? I thought they stopped." He said, sounding really concerned.

"They kind of did, but yesterday, with the storm and everything… I'd just want to be sure that I'll sleep through the night without getting up at midnight and staying awake till morning, That's all." Jade shrugged it off.

"Here's a bottle of dreamless potion. Take one teaspoon before you go to bed. It should help. There's enough for four nights but I'd like you to come back on Wednesday so we could talk about it. Dreamless potion is never a permanent solution, you'll have to go through all your feelings eventually." Said Madame Pomfrey, smiling sadly.

"Thank you." Whispered Jade and Percy walked her back to their common room.

"Good night then." He said and hugged her lightly. It wasn't a bear hug, like Fred and George gave her, but it wasn't as awkward as you'd think.

Percy was a Weasley after all and they have hugs in their blood.

"Good night." Repeated Jade and jogged up the stairs.

Girls were already in beds when Jade came back. She quickly brushed her teeth and turned off the Christmas lights which were still on, before climbing into her bed.

The wall was nicely warm, there had to be the chimney behind it, and she fell asleep, within minute, knowing there will be no nightmares that night.


	47. trouble

**_Sorry guys, I wanted to update sooner but I have two major exams at uni – which I have to pass if I want to continue in September._**

**_Thanks for all your reviews, I really love finding them in my inbox! You guys rock!_**

**_There probably won't be any update for next week or so – I'm sorry, but I should get back to updating regularly in September :)_**

**_-and I apologize for any mistakes - I really don't have time to re-read it - one day maybe, one day when pigs will fly and unicorns will chase them around I'll have enough free time to finish all I want..._**

**_Here's next chapter. Enjoy!_**

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><p>Jade walked out of the castle, followed by Deric who looked even more sad today.<p>

"So, what's wrong?" she asked him when they walked in silence for a couple of minutes.

"It's nothing really, it's just those stupid Slytherins… there's Wilister, a boy from our neighbourhood, he used to make fun of me at home, and he's starting again." Said Deric, looking on a verge of tears.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Don't worry about it though, just pretend you don't know what he's talking about and he will stop after a while. What was he saying?" asked Jade, determined to help her friend.

She knew how much it hurt to be called names. Kids in previous schools used to make fun of her all the time.

"That's not important." Said Deric quickly and changed the topic.

Jade decided she won't push him. He'd tell her when he was ready.

They walked around the lake, Jade showed him from where she jumped to the water with Fred and George and on the way back they even stopped by Hagrid's home, but he wasn't there and Fang was gone too.

They had lunch together and then said good-bye each of them going to their common room, because it started to rain again and the castle was quite cold.

Jade turned around the corner and saw Fred and George, hiding something behind the statue of an old witch.

She crept behind them and exclaimed "Bo!" and laughed when both boys jumped up, quickly turning around.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked trying to see what they were hiding.

There was a thin, almost invisible string tied across the corridor, fastened to something hidden behind the statue.

"Oh, just a couple of dung-bomb traps. You might want to take different way." Winked Fred and pulled another string from his pocket, carefully stepping over the trap.

"can I help?" asked Jade excited by the prospect of afternoon spent with twins.

"I don't know," teased George,

"What if you get in trouble?" questioned Fred and took the dung-bomb his brother was handing him.

"We saw you go for a walk with Percy last night" remarked George and pulled out another bomb from the box he was holding.

"Wouldn't want to ruin your reputation of excellent student, Percywald wouldn't let you into his club of royal wands-stuck-up-our-asses if you didn't follow the rules" explained Fred, pretending to be deadly serious.

"Oh, who's jealous here? You two wanted me to spend the evening with you instead of Percy? Oh you know he could never replace the two of you." Cooed Jade back, patting their cheeks.

"Not even one of us!" laughed Fred.

"Well if you are sure, then here's a box and be careful where you're stepping, this corridor is already covered but we still have ten classrooms to do.

They set the rest of the traps so the bombs would explode ten minutes after the teacher pulled out the chair from behind their table.

"That should be perfect distraction in the right time." Whispered George explaining their tactics.

"It takes about ten minutes to get rid of the smell." Smiled Fred and tied another string to the chair, adding little weights at the end, making it last a little bit longer before it would break and set off the bombs.

"Why don't you put a spell on them to make the smell last longer?" asked Jade curious.

"Well, we…" George looked at his twin "we never really thought about that" finished Fred.

"I've read that simple spell in our text-book. It's called facere ultimum. Do you think it would work?" suggested Jade, happy she could somehow contribute to their prank.

George pulled out his wand and swished it across the air, saying the spell. He still remembered it from first year. They were trying it on flowers and waiting to see whose flower would last longest.

"Professor Flitwick told us that simple "finite incantatem" won't break the charm and you need to wait for it to wear off on it's own or use the formula to end it, I don't remember what that was." Remembered Fred, sounding really happy.

"It's an evil little spell, nobody remembers it because it doesn't have much use, but if it works, then this will be the prank of the year." Laughed George patting Jade's back.

"It could easily give us a free Monday." Cheered Fred and followed his two partners in crime to next classroom.

They were heading back to the common room when Fred turned around the corner and was greeted by McGonagall's exclamation "Mr. Weasley!" soon George walked from behind the corner too, followed by Jade – "and Mr. Weasley, and Miss Mraz! What are you doing in this part of school?" professor asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Fred smiled at her sweetly.

"They were just showing me the school." Added Jade, smiling too.

"Alright, you might want to go downstairs, the dinner will start soon." Said McGonagall eyeing them as if she knew something was up.

"Yeah, we'll go, check out the dinner." Nodded George.

"We saw poltergeist flying around the corridor leading to astronomy tower, you might want to check if he's up to something." Said George, pointing in the opposite direction, leading McGonagall away from the corridor with traps.

"Alright, Mr. Weasly, thank you for telling me, but you three should keep away from trouble, it's only first week-end and you already have one warning." She reminded them and walked away.

"Whew, that was close!" laughed Fred and they all walked back to the common room, there was still some time before dinner.

The rest of the evening was uneventful, they had few more free hours before the school would start tomorrow, so girls spent them in their room, having a "girls' night".

Jade was never really interested in girly things like nail polish and magazines, but she had to admit it felt beautiful to have friends.

She ended up with French manicure and a couple of small braids in her hair.

They all packed school books and writing supplies for Monday and went to bed pretty early.

The morning was hectic, with most of the students being late for breakfast and hurrying over to their classrooms with robe-pockets packed with toasts, the corridors were crowded and the dung-bombs exploding on many different ways made it even worse because they all had to take much longer ways to their lessons.

Real chaos started ten minutes after, when all the students rushed back to corridors, trying to escape the awful smell which filled almost every classroom.

First lessons were finished early, and teachers dismissed their students so they could deal with the awful green smoke filling the school.

Second lessons of the day were taught in rooms which weren't normally used during the year.

First year Gryffindor and Slytherin had transfiguration in Great Hall.

They were trying to transfigure matchsticks into needles. With no one really succeeding.

"Miss Mraz!" called McGonagall after Jade when they were leaving for their next lesson, which was Astronomy.

"Go on, I'll catch up with you." Whispered Jade to Maddie and walked over to McGonagall, who was waiting for her by the stairs.

"Please follow me to my office." Said McGonagall strictly, her lips forming the infamous thin line.

Fred and George were already waiting in front of the large wooden door.

McGonagall walked inside, followed by three kids. She sat down behind her desk tapped the surface with her fingers and looked at them.

"I beg you have nothing to confess?" she asked, sure none of them will admit they set the traps.

Jade looked at Fred quickly, checking to see what they would do.

They did nothing, just stood there pretending they have no idea what she was talking about.

"You are the last three students I've seen around the corridor where all those bombs exploded this morning. And I believe you have something to do with it." She looked at them again getting no answer.

"Well, as I don't have any direct evidence, there is nothing I can do, but please next time, consider that some students want to learn during lessons and for something this big – polluting half of the castle, you would be in serious trouble." She said, almost giving up. There was no way someone could prove it was them but she knew the prank had something from Weasleys signature humour in it.

And she wasn't really sure she wanted to get them busted. The problem was, she had to be strict and keep the pranks in some limits before they got out of control and someone got injured.

"Alright, we'll take that in consideration." Nodded Fred in a very business-like manner and they both slightly bowed before turning around and pushing Jade slightly out of the office.

"Just a second Miss Mraz. Boys, you can go on, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss the beginning of your potions class." She said, looking at them and George could almost swear it was sarcasm from her part, but then again, one could never be sure with McGonagall.

Jade froze on spot. She was determined she wouldn't tell on the boys, she could take the blame on herself but then what if Molly got angry with her? Or even worse – disappointed?

But McGonagall didn't want confession, she already knew Jade and boys did it.

"I just want to remind you that you don't have to do everything your brothers do in their free time. You can use your own brain, alright?" asked McGonagall.

"Ahem, alright." Nodded Jade, her cheeks getting a little red.

"And one more thing. I know you want to fit in, just like everyone else here, but you can be yourself. Don't always do what everyone else does. I've noticed you've managed to transfigure the matchstick today. And then you quickly changed it back because none of your friends managed to do it right. Don't be afraid to show you're good in something." Said McGonagall and for the tiniest fraction of second she sounded very motherly.

"It was the first real magic." Said Jade, looking at her teacher. "my first real magic."

"Well, yes, it can feel weird and difficult at first to control it but it will be only worse if you hold back."

"It wasn't weird, it was beautiful." And after hesitating for a while Jade asked: "Is it really alright for me to be… well, magic?"

"Of course it is. Everyone here is either witch or wizard." Said McGonagall slowly, confused.

"I know, but… Mrs. Weasley and all her family are magic, but… is it really ok for me to be magic too? I'm not that special or amazing like them and I don't really feel magic." Explained Jade.

"Well, yes, it's ok to be a witch. I'm sure Mrs. And Mr. Weasley would be ok with you if you were muggle or witch, it doesn't matter. It's just the way we were born. No one can change that, and as long as you stay yourself and keep out of trouble you'll be just fine." Concluded McGonagall and rushed Jade up to Astronomy tower for the introductory lesson.

Jade was relieved they didn't get in trouble, but the lecture she received from McGonagall left her with head full of thoughts.

What if she didn't pull pranks with Fred and George? Would they be angry with her? What if they get caught next time? What if the school contacts Weasleys and she'd get in trouble?

But spending time with her brothers and fitting in the family was for now the number one on her list, she wasn't going to change that any time soon.

The weeks passed by, nights were filled with late library visits, every empty shelf in students' rooms were stacked with parchment rolls with half-finished essays and Astronomy calculations.

It wasn't until late October, when Fred and George found time for another bigger mischief, and being good brothers they are, they went to the common room and called Jade to go with them.

They seemed to be inseparable in the last couple of weeks. They always included her and Jade often had bright ideas to bring their little pranks to the next level.

"How come you never bring your friend with you?" asked Jade curious, when she saw George waving at Lee as they walked out of the common room.

"Well, this is family business." Explained George as if it was obvious.

"Besides, not everyone wants to risk detention." Added Fred.

They walked down to the Great Hall, where professor Flitwick was putting up decorations for Halloween. Hundreds of carved pumpkins were slowly rising up to the air. Fred and George, hiding behind the table grabbed one really huge and quite spacious one. Jade was sure she could fit inside if she wanted to. There were small stars carved all around it. Boys uickly pulled it out of the great hall, both of them holding it down. The spell was quite powerful and they were almost floating it the air.

Jade laughed and followed them.

Fred checked if the corridor behind the corner was empty.

They pulled out the map, which amazed Jade, but they promised to explain it later, because now they were on a mission.

"There!" exclaimed George pointing to the edge of the map where small dot disappeared, clearly walking to the next page.

Fred and George run through few corridors, two secret passages and finally found what they were looking for.

There in the corner was a shabby looking cat, with bright yellow eyes.

"Here kitty kitty." Cooed Fred and pretended to hold something in his hand.

The cat looked confused but meowed loudly when they tried to come closer.

"What are you going to do?" asked Jade stepping to the side to see the cat clearly over the pumpkin.

"Just sending her for a little flying trip. Don't worry, she'll be fine, we even have a bowl of water ready for her." Laughed Fred.

"It's just that we owe Filch for sending us to detention last week when he caught us in the forbidden corridor on seventh floor."

"Yeah, don't worry Jade, Dumbledore will get the pumpkin down in a while, we just want to give Filch a little scare for messing with us." Said George and took one step closer to the cat.

"No. I won't let you do that. No!" was all that Jade said before standing between her brothers and the cat.


	48. autumn

**Sorry guys. I know, I know. I promised I'll update. And I'll promised I'll update regularly, but I've been kind of depressed lately, not much energy to do anything…**

**I hope it will change soon.**

**Here's one small chapter…I don't know if it's good or not, but I'm too tired to read it again ( = sorry for spelling mistakes)**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>"Don't be silly Jade." George tried to push her aside but she shook off his hand and glared at him.<p>

"That cat is just as evil as her master, she got us into more trouble than you could imagine." Argued Fred.

"No. You won't do anything to Mrs. Norris." Said Jade calmly but she was more serious than ever.

"It's not like we're going to hurt her." Tried George again, but it was useless.

Once Jade set her mind like this, there was no point in arguing or trying to find compromise.

Fred tried one more time to go around his sister and get to the animal that was now hissing in their direction and eyeing them suspiciously.

"Get lost Fred! You won't do anything to her, that's enough now!" yelled Jade and picked up the cat. She was so fast that even the animal looked confused for a while.

Jade walked away in the direction of great hall but didn't get too far before she was stopped by Filch appearing out of nowhere.

"What are you three doing to my cat? Put her down this instant!" he yelled at Jade.

"I was just helping her …out of trouble." Explained Jade coldly looking at her brothers.

She gently set the cat down and walked away before someone could stop her.

It was way past the bed-time and the Weasley twins were still sitting in the common room, waiting for their sister to return.

It was a cold October night and they were starting to worry.

"We messed up big time." Concluded George, shaking his head.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Bloody hell, it's almost midnight, where can she be?" exclaimed Fred, getting up and pacing around the sofa.

Jade was sitting on a step, somewhere in the middle of the staircase. She did remember one of the prefects telling them about the disappearing step, which could get you trapped if you didn't skip it but she was so angry with Fred and George that she completely forgot about it.

Now she was getting cold and there was no one around to pick her up.

It was dark in the corridors, and this particular one didn't have any paintings on the walls.

She was no longer angry now, because the more she was thinking about it the more sure she was that her brothers will hate her now, for ruining their little revenge to Filch.

And her brothers hating her was the last thing she'd want.

A lonely tear fell down her cheek, silently hitting the stone tile of the stairs. And after the first one, many more followed and Jade found herself sobbing uncontrollably, hugging her knees in a feeble attempt to warm herself up.

Suddenly she felt soft fur brushing over her cold hand and when she looked up, there was a cat with shabby hair and bright yellow eyes.

"Mrs. Norris? What'cha doing here?" she asked the cat and stroked Mrs. Norris' head.

Soon after the arrival of the cat her master appeared on top of the staircase.

"A student outside, after curfew" exclaimed Filch, looking pleased that he caught someone in trouble. "Alright, let's go to the head of your house to see what punishment you'll get." He laughed coldly stepping over the tricky step, but when he was about to grab Jade's shoulder, Mrs. Norris looked at him and then curled into a furry ball in Jade's lap.

Filch looked stunned at his cat. She has never showed any sentiment towards any student, and here she was sitting in the lap of a Weasley!

"Ahem…" he didn't know what to say, when Mrs. Norris climbed down, letting Jade to pet her one last time and then she stood loyally next to her master.

"Looks like Mrs. Norris owes you something." Filch concluded, roughly grabbing Jade's left arm and pulling her up from the trap.

"Don't let me catch you again, because next time there'll be such long detention you won't get out of school for ten years." He hissed at Jade, then turned around, nodding to his cat to follow him down the hallway.

"Thank you." Whispered Jade but neither of the two disappearing figures gave any sign they heard her.

When she finally climbed through the portrait entrance to the common room, there were two angry-looking boys waiting for her.

She didn't look at them because she wasn't in the mood for arguments or lectures about being a bad sister and spoiling their fun so she just walked across the room, ignoring their calls.

Jade almost made it all the way to the staircase before someone grabbed her arm and turned her around.

"What do you want?" she asked, new tears running down her face.

"N-nothing…" started George, letting go of her arm and taking a step back.

"We just wanted to know where you've been. We were worried sick that something happened to you!" added Fred still looking angry, but at the same time relieved.

"Well, I'm fine, and I'm sorry I … " Jade had no idea what to say.

Was she sorry for saving the cat from her brothers? No, not at all, she knew it was the right thing to do, but she was sorry because she ruined the fragile balance which was in their relationship from the beginning. Now it was gone, she just knew it.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, we are the ones who should apologize." Said George, looking at his twin.

"Yeah, we shouldn't have done it if you didn't agree with the prank." Confirmed Fred and half-smiled at his sister.

"So, are we ok?" he asked tentatively and Jade nodded.

"I guess." She said looking at them as if she was judging the situation.

"See you tomorrow then." Concluded George and pulled his brother with him up the boys' staircase.

Jade woke up into the coldest Saturday they had so far at Hogwards.

The sky outside was dark grey, and even though it was just 7 a.m. she already knew the weather won't change during the day.

Wind was blowing hard and dark silhouettes of forbidden forest were partly covered with heavy mist.

None of her roommates were up yet. It has been a long week and everyone liked to sleep – in, so they'll probably stay in bed until lunch and then just finish their essays from potions.

Jade, however, felt like going out. Run a little bit through the uncut grass and fern, and maybe go visit Hagrid. She didn't see him for a long time and today seemed perfect for a cup of strong ginger tea and some rock-hard cookie.

She climbed out of her bed and tiptoed across the floor to her dresser.

The tiles were freezing cold.

Jade found a pair of thick wool socks Molly sent her in a package week ago. She pulled out a long-sleeved white shirt, dark blue sweater (which belonged to Percy few years ago) , cotton shorts and her favourite pair of corduroy pants.

Her sneakers won't last much longer in this cold weather, but she didn't feel like wearing winter boots yet.

There was no one in the common room, neither in the corridors and Great Hall was empty too, apart from plates full of scrambled eggs. Heaps of toast and pots full of marmalade.

Jade sat down and poured herself a cup of hot cocoa. She sipped it for a while but then decided to go out and eat her breakfast on the way. There was no way she would sit on her own in the huge hall.

She grabbed four pieces of toast and made two sandwiches with peach jam and then drank the rest of her cocoa before jumping up and walking out of the castle.

The wind was biting it's way through her clothes and she regretted not taking one more shirt, or maybe long underpants would have been nice. But then, she could run and warm herself up a little.

She stuffed the toast into her mouth and sprinted across the greenhouses, her sneakers barely touching the ground.

The grass was more overgrown when she reached the further part of the grounds.

The morning dew was still sticking to the leaves of the plants and Jade's pants were soon soaked with ice cold water.

She made a big detour, alongside the border of Forbidden forest, looking back at the castle. She would never get tired of the view. Now, when she knew it a little better, it was easy to spot the windows of their bedroom, or the balcony of headmaster's office, and the Astronomy tower.

A dark cloud came from the north and hung dangerously over the roof of Hogwarts. It was going to rain soon. Perfect weather for Halloween.

Jade sighed and turned around to make her way to Hagrid's hut.

The pumpkin patch on his back yard was empty. Old dry leaves were still attached to the sterns but it looked odd without huge orange and yellow pumpkins all around.

Jade knocked on the door. There were sounds of hustle from inside and several exclamations of"Fang! Sit! You stupid dog!" before Hagrid opened the door, just enough to peek outside.

He smiled at Jade and stepped back to let her in.

She stopped at the door and took off her muddy shoes.

The room was nicely warm, filled with delicious smell of pumpkin stew and spices.

"Hi there! Whatcha doin'out of yer bed this early?" asked Hagrid as he let go of his dog's collar. Jade didn't have time to answer because her face was attacked by huge friendly dog that wanted to cuddle.

After a while she managed to fight him off and make him sit next to her on the bench closest to fireplace.

"Couldn't sleep and I wanted to run around the grounds for a bit." Said Jade, scratching Fang's ear.

"Yeah, it's fine weather for a stroll around the grounds. But it's gonna rain soon." Commented Hagrid and set a plate of raisin cookies on the table.

And it was true. The rain started the moment Jade took first bite of the cookie and didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon.

Hagrid pulled out his knitting project – which was apparently some furry dog coat for Fang, and Jade chewed the cookie and played with the dog.

They talked about everything and nothing, and Jade felt like at home.

She wouldn't admit it, but she was starting to miss Burrow.

She missed the morning chaos and smell of freshly baked bread, and the way Molly would braid her hair, even though Jade could do it herself.

And she missed hearing Arthur come home from work, and good-night hot chocolate, and Sunday apple pie.

So she told Hagrid, and he listened, and it made Jade feel a little bit better. And she also remembered the emergency chocolate frogs in her trunk, but she didn't want to eat them just yet, so they talked some more and when it was time for lunch, Hagrid put on his black coat, buttoned Jade up in one of his smallest sweaters (which was still too big for her to walk in it properly) and they made their way through the grassy field, back to the castle.

the Halloween was almost here.


	49. Halloween

Hi, I'm so sorry I didn't update in…forever. I don't have internet right now, and I can only steal 5 minutes here and there at school so it's difficult.

Thanks for being patient with me.

At the Burrow:

Molly finished wrapping the last parcel, which was for Jade, and it had a pair of blue legwarmers in it, together with few sweets for Halloween.

She finished knitting those legwarmers this morning, as an quick side project, a kind of part-time knitting she enjoyed while working on the Christmas sweaters all year.

There was already one package for Bill, with candy and wrist-warmers because she knew he liked to pull his sleeves up and it always bothered her how he keeps his hands warm in chilly days.

One small package for Charlie with a mug-cosy to keep his fingers from getting burned on that steel cup he used for his morning coffee in the dragon reservation far away from home.

One for Percy with grey knitted case for his glasses. Two packages for twins, exactly the same, with two pairs of socks they requested and then, finally one for Jade.

Each package has carefully written letter attached, and was ready to be send but Molly was waiting for Arthur to get back home from work and sign each note himself.

There was nothing to do – unusual for Burrow.

All laundry was washed, kitchen cleaned, pot pie in the oven, ready for dinner.

Ginny and Ron were silently scribbling on big piece of leftover brown wrapping paper, spread on the ground.

They were supposed to be on time-out each of them in separate corner for something mischievous they've done earlier, but they seemed to forget about it, as well as Molly, and instead started to make a calendar to count down the days until their siblings will come home from school.

Silent music from radio was occasionally interrupted by Ron asking how many days are in November and what date it is today.

At Hogwarts:

"Hey Jade! Where have you been?" asked Joyce, sitting on her bed with a little compact mirror and hairbrush in her hand.

"Just exploring the grounds and you know…visiting Hagrid. He sends some cookies." Said Jade and pulled brown bag of cookies from her pocket.

"oh, …thanks." Said Maddie, a little uncertain. None of the girls except Jade had the courage to taste Hagrid's creations so far.

Jade jumped on her bed, kicking off the rain-soaked sneakers.

"Are we going to grab some lunch?" she asked shaking her head in an attempt to dry her hair faster.

"Sure, we were just waiting for you." Said Maddie and pulled her down from bed.

They had sandwiches and thick pumpkin soup for lunch, nothing big, so students wouldn't overeat before the big Halloween dinner.

It didn't stop raining so everyone spent afternoon playing snap and eating away candy from packages which came in mail this morning.

Jade missed morning mail, because of her early walk around the grounds, and not getting any letter of candy didn't help much with her homesickness, when she saw almost everyone else snacking on chocolate.

She wrapped herself in one of the throws from common room and snuggled in the chair close to the fire. She had a book in her lap, something about dragons from Charlie's old library back at home, but she didn't read.

Girls were discussing some article from Teen-witch and giggling every five seconds but Jade didn't pay attention.

Actually, she hardly noticed when the portrait entrance opened and Fred wit George climbed in. She only realized they were in common room when they squeezed into the chair with her, getting them all three hopelessly stuck.

"Hey sis! We were looking for you since breakfast!" exclaimed George, ruffling Jade's hair.

"Yeah, saw Hagrid just now, he said you were bugging him all morning." Laugher Fred and shook out rain water from his hair, spraying Jade with cold drops.

"Stop it!" she yelled and tried to wiggle her way out of the chair but it was impossible with her two brothers sitting on top of her.

"I wasn't bugging him, we just talked!" she argued and pushed Fred down when he tried to steal her book.

"Anyway, we waned to give you your part of the Halloween package mom sent this morning but you weren't here." Continued George, helping his brother up, casually.

Fred squeezed back to the chair without blinking. " But if you don't want it, then I guess…" he started but Jade interrupted him.

"I got something too?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course you do, mom always sends us something small on Halloween, wait here I'll go grab it." Said George and pushed himself out of the chair.

Jade moved to the side so Fred could sit more comfortably, and as soon as George left, an odd silence fell on the two of them.

It wasn't uncomfortable, just unusual.

"So,…"started Fred. "You miss home already?"

"What?! Did Hagrid tell you?!" exclaimed Jade, feeling betrayed.

"No, he didn't, but I remember feeling a little homesick in our first year, and I had George here, so now you just confirmed my hypothesis." He laughed and patted Jade on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it'll go really fast now, you won't even notice and Christmas break will be here." He promised and put his hand around Jade.

She sighed and leaned into his side, feeling suddenly even more homesick than before.

"Here you go!" yelled George and threw a big yellow envelope on Jade's lap.

The address tag said:

Weasleys – Gryffindor – Hogwards and it made Jade feel a little bit uneasy. She wasn't Weasley, she insisted on keeping her parents' name and even though she had good reasons to do it, now she felt stupid and sad.

"What's wrong?" Fred wanted to know, taking his hand off her shoulder and looking at the envelope, trying to find the reason of Jade's sadness.

"It says Weasleys." Said Jade simply, but didn't look at neither of them.

"So? It was addressed to all of us, there's a package inside for you." Said George, encouraging her to look inside the envelope.

"But I'm not …" started Jade, silently.

"Of course you are, don't be silly, you're a honorary Weasley and a prankster like us, now open it." Insisted Fred and nudged her with his shoulder.

Jade slowly pulled out small neatly wrapped package with a letter attached on top.

_Dearest Jade, _

_We miss you dearly and can't wait till Christmas to have you back home. _

_We hope you will have wonderful Halloween at Hogwarts. It's getting colder here at home, so I'm sure it must be freezing up at North where you are now. Wear warm clothes and drink a lot of hot tea, we don't want you getting sick._

_I'm sending you a pair of legwarmers and some candy, but you don't have to eat it all at once, and don't let twins take it from you, I've sent them exactly the same sweets._

_Write soon, and take care of yourself. If you need something just let us know or ask your brothers to help you._

_We love you and miss you _

_xoxo _

_Mom and Dad _

_PS: Ron and Ginny want me to tell you they miss you and wish you'll come back soon. Ginny, Ron_

Jade folded the letter and realized she's been smiling all the time.

George broke her train of thoughts when he licked his finger and pushed it inside her ear.

"Eww! Why would you do that?!" yelled Jade wiping her ear with her sleeve.

"Don't pout and open the package!" Fred rushed her and so she finally tore the brown paper open and found a pair of blue legwarmers wrapped around a chocolate frog, box of raisins in white chocolate and jelly beans.

"Huh, it's the same like ours." Commented Fred.

"Do you want to swap raisins for your chocolate frog?" tried George, but Jade just laughed.

"You have the same candy like me, I'm not exchanging anything. deal with it." She smiled at their stunned expressions but hugged them both, feeling as close to home as she has been since September.

Dinner was fabulous, with pumpkin pudding, pie, soufflé, pumpkin ice cream and pumpkin jelly. Everything was orange and black and after an hour of eating and chatting, most of the students just sat back and enjoyed the warmth from all the fires and candles lit in the Great Hall.

Ghosts had a little ballet performance at the beginning, but apart from that, it was a very calm and enjoyable meal, with live music played by a band of young men from Hogsmade.

Professor Dumbledore rose up from his chair and was about to wish everyone good night and remind them that house points can be gained through next week by finding hidden candy all around the castle, but also that points will be taken for every candy wrapping thrown away on the corridors or school grounds when suddenly all the candles went out and five huge pumpkins which were floating above tables exploded, effectively covering everyone with kiwi pudding.

After a moment of terrified silence, when all the heads turned to professors' table to see headmaster's reaction, a roaring laughter erupted across the hall, when they saw Dumbledore smiling and tasting the pudding which got stuck to his robes.

"Not bad, not bad." He commented finally. "Please try not to spread the mess as you go to your common rooms where party continues."

Professor McGonagall didn't look very amused and she hurried to the entrance and vanished pudding from groups of students passing by.

She eyed Weasley twins suspiciously but she knew there were no proofs about who was the author of the prank and she was secretly happy they choose something as innocent as kiwi pudding for tonight.


	50. prankster strikes

**Here's another chapter.**

**I'm not sure when I'll get enough internet to post it…so I apologize for letting you wait. I want to write more and get the chapters posted but with studying and the lack of online time it's difficult. Sorry for letting you wait, and thanks for being patient.**

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><p>It might have been an innocently looking prank but next morning all of them woke up in different stages of color-change. Most of the students had more or less visible blotches of green over their faces and hands. Shades of green varied from one to another. The trick was that more you tried to remove it with magic, more visible and long-lasting it got.<p>

The effect was designed to wear off with few washes with water and simple soap but most of the professors and older students relied on magic means and so half of the castle spent next few days looking like frogs dressed in habits.

"It was a nice one." Commented Jade casually Wednesday morning, sitting at the table next to Fred.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Fred with straight face and without even blinking continued spreading marmalade on his toast.

"The weather is nice today. Chilly, but pleasantly sunny, after the week of rain." Said George and poured himself a cup of warm cocoa.

"Next time, I'd add more color. You know, make it more… loyal to the school houses? It gets quite boring when half the castle sports Slytherin colors. Just saying." Added Jade as if she was commenting on the weather, but George noticed a little sparkle in her eye, the same one she had every little moment when she actually let go and was herself.

"Thanks for the tip, next time we'll discuss it with you first." Nodded Fred . " Now, let's talk about something else, shall we? I don't want to be the one McGonagall blames for her lovely greenish look."

First two weeks of November passed without any excitement. Mid-term exams were in full swing and no one had time for mischief. After the last exam, there was a free Friday for students to sleep-in after week of late night studying.

Jade woke up early, like always, but she didn't want to get up just yet. The air was freezing and she felt nicely warm under the covers. She contemplated about reading the last chapter of the dragon book Charlie lent her or maybe knitting the last rows of the yellow hat she started back in summer. She could use warm hat in cold days like this, that's why she pulled the knitting from her trunk and made her way through the row of stitches, then turned the work around and tried to remember how to cast off. After two mistakes and one panic attack when she thought she'll have to frog the whole thing, she found the right way, remembering how Molly taught her _"two steps forward, one step back"_ and there it was, her very first hat. It was yellow, and thick, and it called for a pom-pom or two, but it'll have to wait for the next visit of Hagrid, when he could show her how to make them.

It was almost seven and Jade was getting bored.

Maybe she could wake up Fred and George and they could pull some prank, everyone deserved a little laugh after all the tests, plus there was this great idea she wanted to use…

Jade quickly pulled on old sweats and on top of them her new legwarmers. She buttoned one of her flannel shirts and pulled on Percy's old blue sweater. Ready for the day she sprinted down the staircase, stopping shortly in front of the giant fireplace with roaring fire. She had no idea where boys' room was and she wasn't about to go and knock on every door in dormitory at seven in the morning.

Jade turned around and run out of the common room, cutting through the freezing air of the corridors. If the weather gets any colder they'll have to wear hats and scarves to classes.

The idea was simple, cast a spell she perfected in the last couple of weeks. During Charms one of the Hufflepuff students messed up the spell which was supposed to produce a jet of clean water and instead of _Aguamenti_ he said _Agarmenti_ which resulted in a blob of jelly-like substance which landed on his desk.

Jade perfected it after a couple of tries, with the right hand movement she could make gallons of this and the best part was the substance was transparent, giving her the moment of surprise if she wanted people to step into it without noticing.

Last week, in the lesson after their exam from Herbiology, professor taught them a simple spell which she used for digging bigger holes while planting trees or bushes.

Jade used it to create waist-deep holes behind the doors, which she filled all the way to top with the goo produced by the spell she perfected.

She run through the castle, opening odd classrooms, which wouldn't be used until Monday, setting traps. When she was satisfied with the amount of traps she walked casually to the Great Hall, joining her roommates for breakfast.

"Where have you been?" asked Sue.

"You're terribly early riser right?" laughed Joyce and continued braiding the side of her hair.

Jade just shrugged and added one more spoon of scrambled eggs to her plate.

She wanted to tell someone, so badly, but she couldn't. One thing she learned from twins by observing their effective methods of pulling pranks was, that no matter what, you never talked about your plan or any part of the prank you did. Never.

And so she chewed on her buttered toast and smiled to herself.

It was grey day outside and no one felt any particular desire to go out and fight with the wind so common room was full of Gryffindor students. Jade was sitting around one of the small coffee tables with her friends when Fred and George walked in, covered in something that looked like jelly. Few of their friends joked about it and asked if one of their pranks didn't quite work out and twins answered with some clever remarks, not confirming neither refusing that it was indeed their doing.

"We'll just go wash. You all know to never try remove mess from pranks by magic right?" laughed Fred.

"Sure do! I'll remember that for the rest of my life!" yelled Lee. " I think I might still have a smudge of green behind my ear."

George nodded in his direction but as he was turning around he caught Jade's eye and winked. "that was a good one." He smiled and run after Fred up to their bathroom.

"What was a good one?" asked Maddie looking at Jade confused.

"Never mind." Smiled Jade mischievously and turned the page in her book.

It was almost dark outside when Fred and George sent one forth year girl to fetch Jade from her room. She was sitting on the rug with girls, all of them discussing Christmas holiday which was fast approaching.

Jade run down the stairs to find twins standing close to the entrance bundled in many hand knitted sweaters and vests.

"What'cha doing?" she asked suspiciously looking at Fred who was pulling a scarf away from his neck to relieve a bit of the heat which was accumulating under all the layers.

"No time to talk, we'll melt soon. Just go up and dress as warmly as you can, we'll meet you at the entrance." George rushed her and then turned around to pull a hat from his brother's head. He himself was wearing quite a attire, but he left all the buttons opened for now.

Jade hesitated a while, she didn't really feel like going outside, it was windy and freezing out there, not to mention the sun set down almost two hours ago, but when she saw expecting smiles of her brothers she reminded herself that this is her family and she has to enjoy every moment she has with them and sprinted up the staircase.

She pulled on two pairs of thick socks and few sweatshirts with the blue sweater on top, adding the hat she finished this morning.

"Jade it's almost dinner time, don't you think it's a bit late for any of the crazy things you're planning with your brothers?" asked Joyce, laughing at Jade who tried to put on her sneakers and button up the three buttons on the collar of her top sweater.

"Nah, it's fine, it's not that late." Jade answered, stuffing her shirt into her pants.

Maddie shook her head, looking out of the window at the ink blue night sky. She opened her mouth to say something but Jade was already gone, running down the corridors. She started to regret dressing so warmly but the second her face was hit by the blasting wind she pulled the collar of the sweater higher and looked around.

George was standing close to the entrance with Fred jumping up and down on the grass.

"Let's go!" he yelled and started to hop in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

Jade didn't have time to answer when George pulled her hand and hurried, following his brother.

"What's going on?" Jade tried to yell but the wind took her words and swished them away from George's ears.

They knocked on Hagrid's door and were soon greeted by warmth of dimly lit room and delicious scent of baked potatoes.

"What yer doin' out this late? C'm on in, quick." He greeted them and shut the door behind the group of three frozen kids.

"You said it will start tonight." Explained Fred and started the exhausting process of removing the layers of knitted clothes.

"But why d'you have to drag your sis out into the frost tis late?" Hagrid shook his head and pulled out the usual cups for tea.

"She has to see it. You know, first time here." Nodded George and helped Jade pull the last hoodie off.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jade but no one answered, they just pushed her down on the bench between Fang and Fred, and Hagrid handed her a cup full of strong tea and plate with huge baked potato topped with generous portion of cheddar and cream.

"You'll see, now eat up, we have quite some time before it starts." Smiled Hagrid and pushed the plate closer to her.

"I'm surprised to see you. Didn't have many students here since the cold days started." He continued, bringing plates for twins and finally sitting down himself.

"Before what starts?" Jade tried again but they ignored her and so she gave up and enjoyed the warmth radiating from the meal.

"Let's go you lot. You'll need to head out if you want to make it back before curfew and you want to be out when the first one hits the ground right?" Hagrid rushed them to put on their clothes.

"Thanks for the dinner, it was delicious." Jade complimented and suppressed a yawn.

"Yeah, thanks Hagrid! See you tomorrow." Fred and George yelled at the same time and pulled Jade out.

It was even colder now, with grass squeaking under their feet. They suddenly stopped in the middle of the field looking up, so Jade copied her brothers and looked into the sky.

At first nothing happened, but soon something small and very cold hit her nose.

Small fluffy snowflakes were flying from the sky, grey against the lights from castle windows, disappearing into the grass.

"Your very first Hogwarts snow." Laughed Fred and hugged Jade from one side, George doing the same from the other.

"It's nothing much now, but wait until the morning!" he said looking at Jade's surprised face. She was still looking up. Then she closed her eyes and let the snowflakes melt on her cheeks.

"It's beautiful." She said softly and pulled her brothers into group hug.

"Thanks for showing it to me."

"Well, you're welcome. And thanks for telling us not to go to transfiguration classroom." Said Fred sarcastically, pushing Jade's shoulder.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. What were you doing in a classroom anyway? On a free day?" asked Jade as they slowly walked to the castle.

"Planning a surprise of our own. But we didn't quite finish it, thanks to that little swamp of goo you prepared for us." Laughed George.

"I'll help you with it tomorrow." Smiled Jade and pretended to lock her lips as they crossed the entrance door.


	51. welcome home

**Another chapter here! Yes it's winter already! I know I jumped quite a bit, from Halloween to Christmas break but chapters when Jade's at home are more fun for me to write so… I hope you'll like it.**

**Thanks for your reviews! It's wonderful to know that people are still reading, even after that long break I made and didn't update for months… **

**Thanks for commenting, adding the story to your alert, or favourites. Thanks.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>First snowflakes were followed by others and soon a giant snow storm started, effectively covering the castle and its grounds in thick white layer.<p>

Winter boots and cloaks were pulled out from trunks and students engaged in many snowball fights in between the classes.

Filch had a fit every time group of kids brought heaps of melting snow inside but that couldn't stop them from going out.

Days were getting shorter and wind draft in the corridors was biting its way through uniform sweaters of students and heavy robes of professors who tried to bring as much action and movement to their lessons as they could – to help everyone warm up.

The snow cover didn't melt, like it sometimes happens to the first snow. It stayed solid and it seemed to be growing overnight.

Hagrid had to dig tunnels and corridors in the snow to keep first years from getting lost or stuck. Few feet long icicles were regularly thrown down from the rain pipes and melted in a big roaring fire Hagrid kept close to the school entrance (after Fred and George dared Jade to lick one of the broken ones lying on the ground and she got her tongue stuck to it and madam Pomfrey had to defrost it.

It was Wednesday afternoon, first year's Herbiology class got cancelled because Professor Sprout had to attend to an emergency rescue of tree spirits from Forbidden forest.

Jade was lying on her bed, thinking about Christmas, which seemed to be an ever-present topic these days.

Hogward's express will leave Friday at 11 from the station. A train which will take her home.

"Aren't you gonna pack?" asked Joyce standing at the foot of Jade's bed with a pile of neatly folded sweaters.

"I guess." Jade shrugged her shoulders and continued staring at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" insisted Joyce and after dropping her clothes to the trunk which was laying close to her bed she came back to Jade's side of the room and sat down, looking expectantly at her friend.

"It's nothing. I'm just not sure if I want to go away from Hogwards….for Christmas, you know."

When Joyce didn't say anything just waited for Jade to continue she added:

"We have a lot of essays to write…"

"most of which you've already finished, except for that long one from Charms." Interrupted Joyce.

"…plus, we have great library here, and decorations are pretty and it will be quiet and I could use some extra hours of practice for transfiguration."

"come on Jade, even you are not this responsible student. Aren't you looking forward to seeing your family again?" smiled Joyce and hugged pillow close to her cheek.

"I do…it's just…weird. I mean, I felt like I did fit in..in summer I mean. But now it will be like I'm the stranger all over again. And I don't like Christmas that much. All the fuss with presents, and then everyone's watching for your reaction and you have to persuade them you really like the present and then the Christmas meal with so many different kinds of food, and four different forks, each for different course. And pretty dress and polished shoes and bows in hair." Jade shuddered.

"That's not the Christmas we have. It's warm and beautiful at home. We make popcorn chains for the tree, and mom bakes gingerbread. And we have Christmas pyjamas and hot chocolate." Said Joyce dreamily, before getting up to grab a handful of warm socks from her dresser.

"Every Christmas in every home is different. I'm sure you will love it this year, because you'll be with your family this year, right?"

"Yeah, but it's complicated. It still feels like coming to a stranger's home and imposing. I know they try to make me feel welcome, really, it's just me. I don't know." Jade sighed and pulled her trunk from under the bed.

She opened the secret compartment and pulled out the remaining chocolate frog.

She ate one few weeks ago in a fit of terrible homesickness.

Now she opened the package and stuffed the frog into her mouth. Then she emptied her drawer into the trunk.

Heaps of dirty uniforms and underwear mixed into a huge chaos but she didn't mind.

She added two books from charm (she'll need for the essay) on top and closed the lid.

"Ta-da! I'm packed." She announced proudly while Joyce looked at her in disbelief.

"You sure you didn't forget anything? That was terribly quick and unprepared." She said, putting another neat pile of shirts next to her sweaters.

"I'll have to sort it before washing anyway, there's no need to fold and iron them now." Jade laughed at Joyce's shocked expression.

It was a couple of days before Christmas Eve, around six o'clock in the afternoon, and London streets were cowered in thin layer of new show which wasn't cleaned yet and swapped to the side, adding to already high mountains of greyish ice.

Arthur tugged at Ron's hand a little, when boy slowed down, looking at the black sky with his tongue out, catching snowflakes which were slowly falling down. It was unusually cold winter with generous snowstorms which a couple of days ago made the traffic stop in most parts of the city.

"Hurry up Ron, it's almost time." He encouraged his son and held tightly to mitten-clad hand as they mixed into the mass of people waiting at the Kings Cross station.

Their breath was condensing in chilly air, forming small clouds of white smoke.

Ron looked at two girls who were pretending it's a cigarette smoke, and their mom telling them to stop it because smoking isn't fun and it kills people.

Ron was so focused on the two girls who were now pouting that he didn't even realize how his daddy pulled him through the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

The place was full of parents and a couple of younger siblings, impatiently waiting for the arrival of Hogwart's express.

When the big hand on clock clearly displayed over the table which red "9 and ¾" finally reached twelve and small but loud bell chimed six times, big locomotive rushed into the station with squeaking breaks and a lot of white smoke.

"Daddy! They are here! Look, look!" Ron pointed excitedly to the doors which were opening all along the train with prefects helping younger students down the stairs.

Arthur grabbed the hood of Ron's winter jacket. Losing him in the crowd was the last thing he needed.

Parents rushed closer, effectively blocking most of the train out of view.

"We'll wait here, next to the lamppost just like last year, remember? Fred and George will show Jade where we're waiting and that way we won't get lost." Explained Arthur, fixing the scarf which slipped down from Ron's red nose.

The boy was standing on his toes, trying to spot his siblings first.

"Over there!" he finally yelled, looking in a direction from where the twins and Jade were coming.

He could see George pointing at him and telling something to Jade who looked at Ron and waved with her empty hand ( pulling her trunk with the other).

Arthur let go of Ron who sprinted as fast as his winter boots would let him, crashing in full speed to Fred and George who hugged him and spun him in the air. Then Ron hugged Jade, taking her trunk and pulling it in the direction of their waiting father.

"Hey guys, I missed you so much!" exclaimed Arthur hugging and kissing all of his children on the cheek.

"How was your trip? And where's Percy?" Asked Arthur, still hugging Jade with one arm, because she looked a little bit lost.

"He's talking to his girlfriend." Giggled Fred, but suddenly someone hit him to the back of his head.

"I was not… just wishing nice holiday to my friends." Argued Percy who frowned at his brothers and hugged his dad.

"Didn't Ginny come too?" asked Jade, trying to change the topic.

"Well, she got in trouble for smacking Ron with bottle from Ginger ale just before we left and then threw a tantrum before we left so she's staying at home. She's been grumpy all day, but she can't stop talking about you guys coming home from school. Everyone's been excited." Smiled Arthur and pulled Ron up, because the boy slipped on the icy platform.

"Let's go, we're walking back to the Leaky Cauldron to floo from there. If we hurry, we can beat the rest of the families." Arthur looked around them and most of the parents were still pushing their way through the mass of people, searching for their kids. That's why Weasleys always waited for each other at that spot. It would be impossible to find all of the kids in that chaos.

They pulled their trunks through the streets of London, mostly in silence, as heaps of snow on the sides of the road made it impossible for them to walk next to each other without bumping into strangers.

Soft yellow light coming from windows of Leaky Cauldron looked inviting and warm.

They all walked inside, Arthur holding the door open and counting his children to make sure they didn't forget anyone. Jade walked in as last, handing Ron his knitted hat he lost few streets away from the station, which Jade picked up from the snowy ground and carried for him.

"Alright, now, gather around." Arthur lead them to the corner of the pub, shaking Tom's hand on the way, saying they're just passing by tonight.

"Percy, can you take Ron with you?" their dad asked and handed him a leather pouch filled with floo powder.

"Sure, come on Ron." Agreed Percy and both boys took a handful of grey powder, Ron spilling a little over the tiled floor in front of the fireplace.

After a flash of green light they were gone.

"Fred, George, you're next." Arthur rushed them before they tried to sneak away and get a bottle of butterbeer.

"Alright Jade, you know how it works, right? Leave your trunk here, I'll take them all with me, just get in the there." Smiled Arthur offering her the powder he was still holding.

Jade stepped into the flames, turning around to look at Arthur.

"I'm glad I'm home." She said quietly.

"Me too honey." Smiled Arthur. "Now, hurry up, mom's waiting for you." He winked at her and Jade threw the powder down to her feet and yelled "Burrow!"

Last blurry bit of the pub was all she saw before falling out of the fireplace back in Molly's kitchen.

She got up, bringing a lot of ashes on the rag rug which was lying there to softer the landing of Weasley kids who didn't know to travel through floo without falling yet.

Jade didn't have time to worry about getting the floor dirty, because before she could even blink, she was pulled into Molly's warm hug.

"Oh I'm so happy you're finally back home darling! Look at you! I swear to Merlin you've grown at least an inch since September." Said Molly looking brightly at her.

Jade just smiled, not knowing what to say and gave Molly one more hug.

"Oh, Jade." Whispered Molly, hugging her back with watery eyes.

Arthur's loud arrival with four Hogwart trunks interrupted the silent moment.

"Now, now, hurry upstairs and change from your uniform. Dinner will be ready in a while." She rushed Jade up.

"Arthur, love…" she stopped to quickly kiss him on the lips, "…can you bring their trunks upstairs? "

"Of course, but it will cost one more kiss." He laughed and closed his eyes leaning forward to get one more kiss to his wife but she hit him lightly on the nose with the big wooden spoon she used to steer mashed potatoes.

"up you go." She rushed him, wanting to have more space in their tiny kitchen and having to clean the floor after six people coming through the floo.

Jade climbed the stairs, (after kicking off her winter shoes in the hall) hearing Ginny and Ron laughing on the landing in front of twins' room.

She slowly opened her door and stepped into her small room. And she was wrong. This didn't feel like coming to strange, new place over again. This was her home.

The room was dimly lit by the lamp on her night table. She had light yellow covers on bed and her crocheted blanket on one side. There was an Christmas card waiting for her at the pillow.

She quickly grabbed it and turned it around to see who wrote her.

It was from Bruno, his neat even handwriting. He was wishing her Merry Christmas and saying he started taking skiing lessons, because they were going to France with his parents over the holidays.

Jade smiled and put the card next to the lamp.

She was about to pull off her socks and go take some dry ones from her drawer when someone knocked on her half-closed door.

"Yes?" she asked and Arthur opened the door fully to bring her school trunk inside but Ginny came running from upstairs, pushing by the trunk which was now blocking the door and running in Jade's room.

The youngest Weasley squealed with delight of seeing her sister again and jumped on her bed, taking Jade down with her. They fell backwards to the soft pillows which were charmed to be pleasantly warm.

"Hey Gin!" laughed Jade as Ginny kissed her cheek enthusiastically.

"I missed you so much Jade! Welcome home!" she beamed, looking down on Jade who wad wide grin spread on her face.

"Thanks." She smiled, kissing Ginny's cheek too, but then she frowned. "you seem a little bit hot Ginny, are you ok?" Jade asked worriedly.

Arthur came inside and pulled his youngest daughter off of Jade and sat her on his hip. He put his lips to her forehead, testing her temperature. "Well, Ginny, it looks like you have some fever now. Let's go down to mommy ok?" he said and turned to Jade.

"If you feel like unpacking, you still have at least half an hour before we eat, you can leave dirty clothes on the floor by your door. If not, don't worry, you can always unpack tomorrow."

Jade looked around her room. She didn't particularly feel like unpacking, remembering how she just threw her things in the trunk, knowing it will be hard to sort them all, but if she did it now, tomorrow would be completely free, so she pulled the trunk closer to her bed and kneeled down on the soft rug, opening the top.


	52. never alone

**one short chapter today, I didn't get much time for writing this weekend with all the reports I need to write for school and the big exam we'll have next Saturday - that's right, saturday...**

**anyway, I hope you'll like it, even though it's shorter than usually.**

**Cookie05 and Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall - thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story so far! :)**

**enjoy**

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><p>Jade finished sorting her school things.<p>

There was now huge pile of school habits which needed to be washed, together with all the dark socks, her jeans and t-shirts. Then, she made smaller pile of whites, underwear, school uniform shirts and handkerchiefs.

Happy with the result, she pushed both piles close to the door and turned around, changing her school sweater and shirt for long-sleeved top, adding knitted vest over it and pulling on some sweats instead of the uniform skirt she was wearing.

Throwing the clothes on the pile, which would get washed later, she looked around her room. Straightened bed covers, pushed the trunk to the foot of the bed and closed it.

She took a pair of thick wool socks and pulled them on before skipping down the stairs to the kitchen. She remembered how unsure she was first couple of days, not knowing if she should go down or stay in her room. Now she just jumped over the last four steps and landed softly next to the kitchen table.

Ginny was sitting close to the fire, with her head on the table pouting. Molly made her swallow some badly tasting potion to reduce the fever before it got too high and now she was supposed to drink a huge cup of tea, which she didn't feel like drinking at all.

Jade looked at her briefly, then walked to Molly, asking for the same cup with tea.

She sat next to her sister, hugging her own steaming mug with one hand, while brushing Ginny's hair away from her forehead.

"What would you say to nice two French braids? Hm?" Jade asked softly, putting her cold hand on Ginny's cheek.

"That would be cool." Ginny agreed and straightened her back, turning on the bench, so Jade could braid her hair.

Molly handed her two rubber bands from the stack she was keeping by the kitchen window.

"You know Gin, one of the older girls in our dormitory told me that they learned how to tell a fortune from tea leaves." Started Jade, carefully braiding one side of her sister's hair.

"Really?" asked the smaller girl and knocked on her tea cup with one finger.

"Yeah, sometimes you can see really wonderful things in them. At first you need to make a cup of tea, just like these two we have on the table." Jade explained, smiling over Ginny's head at Molly who turned around and pretended she's not listening because Ginny frowned at her again.

"Then you have to drink it all, until there are only leaves left at the bottom."

"Can't you just spill the tea to the sink and then look?" asked Ginny curiously, pulling her cup closer and looking at the bottom.

"Nope, it has to be this way. The one who drinks the cup is the one who will be part of the fortune." Said Jade seriously.

Ginny took the cup in both of her hands as it was quite heavy and started to drink.

"And when you finish drinking, …" Jade paused to secure the end of one braid with elastic, "…then you turn the cup upside down over the plate."

She started to braid other side, smiling as she heard Ginny sipping hot tea as fast as she could.

"And after a while you look inside your cup and see what's waiting for you in the future. She even explained how you read the signs."

"there, it's finished!" exclaimed Ginny, turning the cup over, setting it on a big plate which had cookies in it before Fred and George came home, but all that was left now were just crumbles.

"Alright, let me see." Jade pulled the place over and turned Ginny's cup back. She peered inside at the black muddy substance which was left on the bottom.

"Oooh, I can see it clearly." She whispered secretly, as Ginny leaned closer to see herself.

Molly turned off the stove and walked over to the girls and see what Jade was up to.

"Right there, it's clearer than full moon over Forbidden Forest at chilly winter night. Ooooh I see your future kid." Jade wailed in her best fortune-teller's voice.

"It won't be pleasant my dear, it won't."

"What? What do you see?" Ginny wanted to know.

"It says, your spring will be very muddy this year." Finished Jade and stood up to put the plate with the cup to the sink.

Ginny pouted a little, realizing she was tricked to drinking the tea mom made her.

"That's not fair, you're supposed to be on my side, and not with mom!" she yelled, pointing at them furiously with her finger.

"Dinner's ready!" Molly called through the house, to stop Ginny from starting an argument again.

They had delicious dinner of shepherd's pie and pickles, with cinnamon buns as a treat afterwards.

When all the dishes were cleaned from the table, Arthur made everyone the traditional good-night hat chocolate and they curled on the sofa in Burrow's tiny living room.

There was huge piece of parchment hanging on the wall next to the window, with days until Christmas.

Today was marked with deep purple marker and little hearts all over (which Jade suspected to be Ginny's job) as the day of their arrival.

"Mom, when's Charlie and bill coming home?" asked Fred and sipped his hot chocolate carefully not to burn his tongue.

"In two days George, they are coming together. Bill will stop in Romania on his way back and they'll catch a portkey together." Said Molly, distracted by some article in Witch weekly she was reading between cooking and cleaning the house for holidays.

"That's not G…" Jade started but then Fred shortly shook his head at her to stop, so she just shrugged and chuckled.

Twins were insane, messing like this with their mom, no wonder she got confused from time to time, when they kept mixing up their sweaters and pretending to be the other one.

"Mom?" started Ginny, but then turned a light shade of greenish grey as she moved too quickly to set her cup on the table. "I feel weird."

"Oh my goodness, you look terribly pale darling, let me grab something for your stomach and …" Molly put her soft hand against Ginny's cheek, "…yes, also for fever, and I'll put you to bed."

"I'll get her upstairs." Suggested Arthur and picked up Ginny, who started to sob, because she really did feel terrible.

When Ginny got settled in her bed and Molly fussed over her until she fell asleep, both parents came back downstairs to find the rest of the kids in heated discussion about Gryffindor quidditch team and its chances to win a cup this year.

Fred and George were on the team this year so they were taking it very personally when Percy suggested that Rawenclaw could be better.

They were about to bet a full galleon from their savings against Percy but dad stopped them.

"No hazard games in this house boys, at least not until you get older." He chuckled, but after an angry stare from Molly he added "No hazard games ever. Never ever." He confirmed, winking at his wife who couldn't help but smile a little, before she grabbed two empty cups from their coffee table and headed back to the kitchen, closely followed by Arthur.

"Do I get the kiss for bringing up kids' school trunks now my lady?" he asked smoothly, leaning against the counter.

"I might rise the price because you made me wait." He winked at her and stole a gingerbread from box Molly was about to set on top of the fridge.

"Is that so?" Molly flirted back. "Then I might make you wait a little longer." She winked at him and leaned closer for a kiss when Ron walked into the kitchen.

"Eww, gross!" he exclaimed, frowning at his parents.

"What is it?" Percy yelled from the other room, putting down his book.

"Mom was going to kiss dad!" Ron yelled back even louder, covering his mouth with his hand when he noticed dad's ears turning red.

"Eww!" everyone chorused from the living room before they started to laugh.

"That's enough!" Molly scolded good naturedly, "Now, everyone upstairs, brush your teeth and off to bed." She grabbed few more empty mugs from the table and rushed them upstairs.

Arthur took a half full cup from Percy, who protested loudly but Molly didn't care what was going on between them, she pushed Percy upstairs as well.

"Finally alone, Mrs. Weasly?" Arthur teased again, but this time they didn't make it, not even to a start of the kiss when they heard Ginny calling from upstairs.

"Nope, we'll never be alone again." Molly shook her head, grabbing clean tea towel from under the sink and running it quickly under cold water before heading upstairs.

"But we wouldn't have it any other way." Smiled Arthur and followed her up to make sure everyone else was in bed.


	53. morning talk

**Thank you for your reviews guys!**

**It's still freezing cold outside and I'm counting down the days until Christmas when I'll finally go home after this semester at school – it really feels like Hogwarts here :D**

**So…Jade's still dealing with nightmares, but she's at home and with more trust and family together it might help to stop them, what do you think?**

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><p>Jade was exhausted when she climbed to bed, pulling out small vial of sleep-less potion.<p>

Madame Pomfrey gave it to her a while ago, saying that she can use it whenever she needs, but only this one, and if the nightmares come back, they'll have to talk about it.

She also explained that now when Jade starts to like her family more and more, she has a lot more things to lose which results in the nightmares, as all her fear has origin in her worries that she would lose even more than she did so far.

The thing is that Jade didn't feel like talking about it, not yet, so she didn't use the potion and just pretended the nightmares went away.

At school it wasn't a big problem, with her bed charmed to keep her quiet while she slept she didn't worry about her roommates.

Sure it was exhausting to wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to sleep until next day but Jade considered it to be still better than talking about her past or her fears.

Now, back at home she wouldn't wake everyone, just Molly and Arthur because they put the silencing charm around theirs and Jade's bedroom last summer, but they thought the problem was solved as madam Pomfrey wrote them after Jade told her it's fine.

Jade was thinking it over. Should she risk it and just sleep, or take the only dose of potion she had and start her routine of sleeping every other night since tomorrow?

She wasn't particularly fond of the idea, but remembering how stressed and exhausted Molly was when the nightmares started in summer Jade decided it was her only option. She chugged down the tasteless potion and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

She slept pretty well, and only woke up around six in the morning when someone knocked on her door.

"Come in!" she called softly still half asleep, bundled under the blankets.

It was cold outside and the air in her room, even though it was warmer than out, still felt chilly and uncomfortable, compared to the warmth of her bed.

It was Arthur who knocked on her door. He was on his way to work, taking some early morning shifts before holiday so he could be at home with family on Christmas Eve and he checked Jade's room when he was walking past, just a habit he picked up during the years of raising up his little kids.

And through her half-open door he saw a glass vial laying on the floor.

He walked in slowly, crouching down next to her bed, holding the side of the mattress for balance and picked up the glass.

"Honey, what is this?" he asked seriously, looking Jade straight in the eyes.

When she didn't answer he continued "did you take some potion last night? Did mom give it to you?"

"No, it was from madam Pomfrey." Whispered Jade looking down at her hands.

"What was it?" Arthur wanted to know. He was sure school nurse wouldn't give his daughter anything harmful, but it still wasn't ok to give kid some potion she could take herself, without her parents at least knowing about it.

"It was for dreamless sleep." Jade mumbled.

"Why? …oh! Did your nightmares come back? Did you have one last night? I thought you said they stopped." Asked Arthur confused and sat down on Jade's bed, suddenly feeling very tired.

"No, it was just… precaution?" Jade sort of asked. "I didn't want to have a nightmare so I took it. It was just one dose for me if I needed it."

"But the nightmares stopped, right?" Arthur insisted.

"Well, sometimes yes, but…" Jade hesitated.

"But why didn't you tell us?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"I don't want you to worry, I still remember how Molly looked every morning after I had a nightmare this summer and …"

"that's what parents do. We take care of our kids, but you need to let us know when something's wrong. And sleepless potion is not a solution." Arthur said strictly but kindly, when he saw Jade's eyes glitter with tears.

"I'll let you sleep a bit more, but you need to tell mom yourself ok? Or I will do it when I come back from work, but I'm sure she'd rather hear it from you." He leaned over to kiss her on her forehead.

"Don't cry now, it will be fine and we'll get through this together ok? I'll see you tonight, and tomorrow we can spend morning in Diagon Alley before we go to pick up Charlie and Bill from the station." Arthur waved good-bye a disappeared downstairs, closing the door softly behind him.

Jade snuggled back down under the covers, wiping her eyes with the edge of her pyjamas. This wasn't how she imagined the beginning of the winter break, but somewhere deep down she felt relieved. Now she has to tell Molly and they will find some solution and maybe she wouldn't have to worry about waking everyone up every time she went to bed.

The only problem was, how do you start a conversation like this? It wasn't exactly a topic you would talk about over breakfast.

It was still dark outside and there was no need to hurry downstairs to face Molly so Jade closed her eyes and fell into blissful slumber for another hour.

Now it was seven, still pretty early but Jade was used to getting up for morning classes. She got dressed in her sweats (a hand-downs from Bill) and flannel shirt, she even pulled on two matched wool socks and combed her hair carefully, things she never paid attention to, but now every second that would set her further from going down and confessing about the night terrors still going on, was good.

Finally there was nothing more to do, no more things to put away, and she could keep straightening her bed cover only for so long.

Downstairs Molly was busy with preparing breakfast, she knew there was at least one more hour before first hungry kid comes down, but she liked to have everything ready. Usually she had Ginny's company in the morning, her youngest being the only early riser in the family.

"Hi." Jade greeted quietly and slipped behind the table, sitting on her usual place.

"Oh, good morning dear. What would you like for breakfast? I'm making scrambled eggs and toast but we also have cereals and fresh bread if you want." Said Molly cheerfully and flicked her wand in the direction of shelf with plates and big porcelain plate with blue ornaments came flying, softly landing on the counter.

"Eggs are fine, thank you." Jade almost whispered and then coughed, realizing how weird she sounded and trying to blame it on dry throat.

"Alright, here you go." Said Molly, putting a plate full of eggs and bacon on the table, while she added the first batch of toasts into their toast-holder which was set in the middle of the table. It was charmed to keep toasts warm and crunchy.

"Thank you." Said Jade and started to eat. There wasn't the usual wide selection of Hogwart's breakfast food but in her opinion this breakfast was thousand times better.

When Jade finished eating and was just sitting there, staring at the tea in her cup, Molly sat down opposite her and asked what's going on, while she pretended to wipe table with her tea towel casually.

"Nothing." Answered Jade in a tone which suggested she has no idea what Molly's talking about.

"Oh, come on, the sooner you say it, the sooner we can start cleaning and getting this house ready for Christmas." Teased Molly.

"Now, young lady, if you don't tell me right away we'll have to add some extra chores on your list. Is it some boy?" continued Molly, still in a light tone, she giggled and got up. She never pressed her kids to tell her something unless they wanted, or it was really serious, and as she couldn't think of anything important right now, she figured that Jade will say it when she wants.

She was half way back to the counter, where she was starting a dough for walnut-vanilla crackers when Jade suddenly said:

"the nightmares are getting worse and I took a dreamless sleep potion last night."

"You what?" Molly turned around, looking very angry and worried at the same time.

"I had one dose from madam Pomfrey, and I just didn't want to wake you up in case I had another…bad dream. Please don't be mad, I'll never take it again, and I'll be quiet at night, I promise." Exclaimed Jade, not sure why Molly would be angry.

"But they told us you're fine now, school nurse said the nightmares stopped!" yelled Molly, not really sure why she was yelling, as it really wasn't helping the situation but she couldn't stop herself.

"You need to tell us things like this Jade. It's not something you can deal with on your own. Why would you lie about something like this?"

"I didn't want you to worry." Sobbed Jade. "In summer you worried all the time. I don't want that."

"But you are my responsibility now Jade. You are our kid and we are family. Families deal with things like this together. You are only eleven, you need someone to talk to. Our family healer said that nightmares which come back are very tricky to stop. There's no potion or spell to help, you just need to talk about what scares you and deal with it, but you can not do it alone. That's why you have us." Molly finished more softly now.

"I know. But there's nothing you can do about what I'm afraid of. It's stupid really, and I know exactly what you'll say. I just… I need to learn believe in it, I guess."

Jade tried to explain, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

Molly silently handed her a handkerchief from the clean pile of laundry which was leaning against the wall in the corner.

"What is it? What is your fear?" She wanted to know, looking at Jade intensely.

"it's stupid, really…I keep having this dream when you all stand in the garden, and it's some kind of a picnic and everyone is there. You, Arthur, all your kids, Remus, and Luna and you look so happy. And I stand in front of the blue metal gate we have by the mailbox and I look at you. And when I call you, nobody looks at me, only Arthur comes and closes the gate and walks away, back to you. And I just stand there and cry and beg you to let me in, but then you pack everything and rush your kids inside and you close the door, but I can still see you through the window. And…" Jade hesitated, her eyes filled with tears she was trying to hold in.

"It's ok darling, we would never ever do anything like that, you know it right? You are ours forever…" whispered Molly, sitting down next to her child and hugging her close, while she shivered.

"But then something starts to pull me away from the gate, and I can never see it, but I always yell and try to stop it, but it keeps pulling me, and then you all look up and laugh." Sobbed Jade, burying her face in Molly's sleeve.

"That's terrible, it must be so hard to see it all the time." Whispered Molly and hugged her closer, and Jade felt better instantly. As soon as someone agreed that it was terrible and scary to see things like that every night, she felt better. Like, maybe Molly understood, and with the faith of a child, that parents can cure every illness and solve every problem, she suddenly believed Molly will find a way to stop it. She fully trusted that it will go away and she'll never have to worry about it again.

"What will you do?" Jade asked hopefully, looking up at Molly who looked back at her with pure determination in her face.

"We will make the nightmares stop. That's it, no stupid dreams will keep my baby up at night." She said seriously and Jade had to laugh. She felt free and much more happy than just a mere minute ago.

"You know we will never send you away. You have your own hand in our family clock, and it works, which is a proof you're family. Do you thing maybe it would be better is you waited with school one more year?"

"No!" jade exclaimed panicking. There was no way she would stop going to school, she loved it there, and there was so much to learn.

"Ok, ok, don't worry. Well, is there something that seems to help you sleep better?"

"Well, I once fell asleep with Fred and George in the common room and I didn't have a nightmare that night." Said Jade thinking if there was something else.

"Well, maybe we could move you in with Ginny, but that wouldn't really help during the year when you're at school, and she is sick now, I'm worried it might be flu…" Molly seemed worried now.

"see, you're worrying again." Sighed Jade, "that's exactly what I wanted to avoid."

"Ok, I'll tell you what we'll do now. Let's try one more night, you'll sleep in your room, we can have some nice calm evening, and we'll see. If you'll have one more nightmare, then we'll talk about it tomorrow ok? Maybe it will get better now when you're back at home." Molly sounded hopeful but Jade wasn't really sure about that.

"Alright." She finally agreed and got up from the table. Should I go and wake everyone up? We have a lot of cleaning to do after all." Teased Jade but Molly took it seriously.

"We really do, there is still whole first floor which has to be cleaned, plus the garden path could use some cleaning from all the snow we had at night, and I have to bake few more cookies for Christmas, and we still didn't send postcards, and it's only a couple more days until Christmas eve!" Molly started to count out all the chores which needed to be done, so Jade choose the easiest way out and sprinted up the stairs to se if her brothers are up already. Maybe Molly was right, maybe now once she was home the nightmares would stop. And with that happy thought and wide smile on her face she knocked on twins' bedroom door.


	54. arguing with Molly

**Thank you ****Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall**** and Cookie05 for reviewing!**

**Your comments encourage me to write more, and drag my laptop all the way to school to catch 5 minutes of internet in between the classes.**

**I apologize for any typos - I wrote this one late at night/ early in the morning..**

** Another chapter… Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade knocked on twins' bedroom door loudly and came in, knowing they'll still be asleep. With Weasley kids you could be sure about one thing, they could sleep through loud noises, extended periods of time and if you wanted to wake them up, you'll need to be patient.<p>

Jade walked across the dark room to the window between Fred's and George's beds and pulled the curtains open.

She turned around and pushed George over to the wall to make some place for herself.

"Hey! Wake up!" she said sitting down next to him, and pushing him even further into the wall, squishing his face against the wallpaper.

George groaned and pulled the covers over his head, but Jade wouldn't stop until she woke them up.

"Come on, it's just a few days till Christmas, we have lots of cleaning to do!" she exclaimed cheerfully and shook his shoulder again.

George turned around without even opening his eyes and started to push Jade off his bed. He didn't kick her down, just softly pushed her over to the edge of his mattress and down on the floor.

Jade jumped right up and continued shaking him.

"Alright, alright, we're awake, now go wake up the rest of your unfortunate brothers." Groaned George, turning to lie on his back.

"Sweet Merlin, what's wrong with you? It's the first day of our winter break!" yelled Fred and threw his knitted slipper across the room just as Jade run out giggling.

There wasn't anyone else to wake up. She has met Percy going to the bathroom with his towel, ready for morning shower, and Ginny was still in bed sick.

"Alright everyone, we have the whole first floor to clean. Fred, George, you can start with the garden path. I've defrosted it and broke the remaining ice, but it's starting to snow again so you'd better hurry and shovel it to the side before it freezes again.

Percy, here's a cloth, could you wipe dust from the bookshelves in living-room?

Jade? Could you go out and get us some more branches from the Holly bush we have growing in the back corner of the garden? Don't worry about destroying it, it'll just grow back after winter, just pick some really nice ones, I want to make a huge decoration for living-room. Ginny darling…" she turned to Ginny who was bundled in warm blankets on the sofa, looking quite comfortable, close to the fireplace, but bored because she hated being sick and stay in bed. "…here's the box of cards we have, can you sort through them and find some empty Christmas ones? We'll need at least ten."

Ginny happily dug into the heap of paper cards, looking for some really nice ones. Fred and George were already pulling on their boots and Percy was dusting off the shelves rather aggressively, determined to get all the dust off.

Jade took her winter Jacket (which used to be Charlie's long time ago) and put on her knitted hat.

She took down the dragon hide gloves they were always keeping on the coat hanger by the door and as she pulled them on, she realized how _at home_ she felt right now.

Little things, like knowing where work-gloves are, made it all suddenly feel real and Jade finally had a place to call her home.

It was freezing outside, with huge heavy snowflakes rushing down from grey skies.

She crossed the garden, smiling at the last few deep red apples left on the trees which now had no leaves. Arthur always told them in August that the biggest and healthiest apple from each tree will be left there to feed birds in winter.

There were three or four small bushes of wild Holly growing over the fence in a far corner of their back garden, berries nice shiny red and hard green leaves.

Jade picked the nicest ones, pulling down the branches and softly stacking them on a pile. When she had as many as she could carry she took them in her arms, barely seeing her way through the blur of green and red.

Inside of Burrow was beautifully warm and inviting after the grey coldness of the garden. Sky was getting darker any minute, predicting a huge snow storm coming from the north.

"Fred, George! Come in boys, that's enough for now. You got most of the ice away and it's gonna snow a lot today. Come on in. Quickly." Called Molly from the back door holding it open while twins rushed inside with rosy cheeks and snow covered hats from that quick snowball fight they managed to sneak in between the chores.

When everyone was safely inside and Molly closed the door, looking out on their yard a little bit worried, they took off all the winter clothes and hang them close to the fire to dry. Ginny had all the postcards sorted and there was a roll of parchment with names and addresses of family and friends they had to wish Merry and bright holidays.

Jade sat down next to Ginny who still looked really pale and sick, and pulled first card closer to her, taking a quill from the ink bottle.

Boys sat down, doing the same, while they snacked on the broken or misshaped cookies Molly set out for them. They were keeping all the nice ones for Christmas, to give away or keep at the coffee table in case some visitors came in.

Jade wrote the first address from the list on an envelope, as neatly as she could and then crossed it out of the list.

"What should I write?" she asked, looking around the room to get some advice from her brothers.

"It doesn't really matter, just something nice, nothing too formal and then leave enough space for everyone to sign at the bottom." Explained Percy, already scribbling first lines on his card.

"Well, that helped a lot." Said Jade with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.. Then she looked down on the blank piece of paper and inked her quill.

…_happy and bright Christmas from…_ she finished second postcard and put it down to dry.

Snow was starting to pile behind the windows, making the room darker than usually.

Warm air smelled like cinnamon and honey and silent noises of nuts being finely chopped were coming from the kitchen.

"Let's make some ornaments for the tree!" suggested Ginny, sounding a little bit funny because her nose was full and she had to breathe with her mouth.

"Sure! We'll bring the craft box!" exclaimed Fred and George at the same time, running upstairs to get the cardboard box filled with old magazines, wrapping paper and colored paper of all shades.

"How are you feeling Gin?" asked Jade putting her hand on Ginny's forehead.

"Tired." Ginny said softly and snuggled deeper into her blanket.

Percy took one of his school books and started to read again, sitting on the window seat, catching the last bits of daylight, before Molly came over and turned on a lamp, then checking Ginny's temperature and setting cups of tea on the table.

"Not now mom, out of the way!" yelled Fred and run over to the coffee table with huge brown box overflowing with craft supplies.

Twins made really long paper-chain, while Ginny worked on some ornaments for the tree and Jade cut out millions of tiny colourful triangles and then glued them to a long piece of string to make a miniature bunting, long enough to hopefully go around the whole tree.

When they all finished, whole room was covered in glue and sticky bits of paper.

"Alright kids…" started Molly but then stopped in the middle of the sentence. "… you need to clean this mess, and then we can have lunch together.

they started to pick up the papers, and forming a huge ball of mess on the coffee table.

Molly walked over to sleeping Ginny and pulled the covers higher around her shoulders.

After delicious lunch of corn tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches they sat down in the living room, doing whatever they wanted.

Jade finished her school essay, happy to have all homework over and long winter break ahead without having to worry about it.

"Hey family, where's everyone?" came a loud yell from the hall.

"Daddy!" there were several yells and sound of sock-clad feet stomping on wooden floor before Arthur got buried in a pile of his children dressed in various hand knitted items.

Despite almost all of them being teenagers, Weasley kids always welcomed their dad when he came home from work and as Christmas was getting closer the family atmosphere grew more intense and even more hugs and kisses were shared every day.

"Arthur! You're home early!" Molly walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of cookie dough in her hands, her left cheek smudged with icing sugar and her fiery red hair all around the place.

"Hmmm, looks delicious." Arthur winked at her, kissing her sugary cheek.

Molly blushed (she still did, after years together), and rushed him upstairs to change from his wet work clothes.

Ginny slept through the whole ordeal of greetings, but when Arthur sat down next to her she sleepily murmured "Daddy?" and snuggled to his side as he pulled her into his lap, setting his cold hand on her feverish forehead.

"Fred, would you fetch some more of the fever-reducing potion? Mom has it in the kitchen." Asked Arthur and continued to comb Ginny's hair with his fingers.

Fred came back with Molly carrying a bottle of the potion, big spoon and a mug of steaming apple tea.

"Here you go honey." Said Molly giving her youngest generous dose of the fever reducer, before she handed her the mug to wash down the bad taste with a little bit of tea.

"So, we had a pretty big action during this shift." Started Arthur.

"You did?" asked Molly, keeping the conversation going but concentrating fully on Ginny who looked really ill.

"Yeah, found a wizard who was stealing muggle cars and then trying to sell them with false papers."

"That's bad, why would someone want those muggle contraptions anyway?" asked Molly shaking her head while picking the remaining bits of paper which were still stuck to the table.

"Well, they were regular muggle cars so he wasn't selling them to wizards. Anyways, we were able to get most of the cars to their owners but one was left over, apparently stolen from some yard, but it doesn't work, you see, so the muggle didn't even want it back, he said someone did him a favour by stealing it." Arthur chuckled.

"And they wanted to vanish it. Just like that! Can you imagine?"

"I don't like where this is going." Said Molly getting up.

"Just don't tell me you are going to bring it here!" she said angrily walking back to the kitchen.

"Well…" he started nervously, but was cut off by Molly again.

"No way. I don't want any more junk in my house. End of discussion Arthur." She yelled from the living-room door where she reappeared.

"It's in the garage." Said Arthur softly and walked to the kitchen, closing the door behind them.

Jade looked worried at twins. She hated when people argued, and when parents argues, it was the worst.

"Don't worry, when mom's yelling it's ok, we're only in trouble when she does the silent household thingy." Reassured her George and continued to arrange their paper chain around the room.

After almost an hour of shushed exclamations and angry steps up and down the kitchen floor there was a minute of silence and when they heard Molly giggle a bit Jade finally let out the breath she was holding.

Arthur came back to the living-room, looking almost as pale as Ginny but smiling widely. He knew that the only way to win arguments with Molly was passive resistance, but you still didn't have a chance, unless she wanted to let you win.

"So…" he looked around the room at all the waiting faces.

"Who wants to see our new Ford Anglia?"


	55. waking up at night

**I apologize (again) for updating after such a long time, but you know how it is at school – exams exams exams… **

**Sweet Merlin, I really kind of left Ron out from the last chapter, didn't I ?**

**Sorry, I always imagine the whole family and what they're doing and then just kind of spit it on the paper really fast and sometimes I forget to write what everyone's doing – it won't happen again, I'll make sure to count my Weasleys :) **

**Thank you for reading.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>The car was in a bad shape. It was grey and paint was falling off on many places, leaving big parts of rusty metal exposed.<p>

There was only one front light, but there was no light-bulb in it, tires were flat and one of the back windows was broken.

"Fancy." Commented Percy and rushed back inside from the cold garage.

"Well, it will take a lot of work…" Arthur scratched his head, " but this is real muggle car. They ride this …"

"…drive…" Jade quietly corrected him, but smiled when she saw how excited Arthur looked.

"I could take it all apart and see how it works! Wouldn't that be fun?" he asked, beaming at the sight of his new car.

"Ok, everyone, let's back inside, I have cookies in the oven and you are not dressed for cold." Ordered Molly and smiled when she saw Arthur bend down and polish the side mirror with his sleeve. "You too Arthur, you can take it apart some other day."

The evening was uneventful at first. As it was winter, the sun set down around five and there was no way Molly would let her kids out alone. Moon wasn't shining because heavy snow clouds covered the whole sky, and she didn't want anyone getting lost.

But when you try and keep six children in such small house like Burrow it can turn into madness pretty fast.

Ginny was still camping on the living room sofa, feeling even worse than yesterday, so she was just snoozing on and off with her Harry doll by her side, but the rest of the small Weasleys was going crazy for being kept inside almost all day.

Fred and George made Ron try one of their inventions, which tasted terrible and made him bleed from his nose, but they didn't have an antidote yet, so after half an hour of trying to stop it on their own, Jade said it was enough and they carried now almost unconscious Ron downstairs, leaving red-bloody track on the stairs.

Ron recovered quickly but Molly was furious, and Arthur's comment about finding an antidote first and then trying their inventions on Ron didn't help much.

They raced back upstairs and went through few more experiments, none of them ended as catastrophically as the first and they did have a lot of fun, until Molly decided to go upstairs with a handful of clean Laundry and found the whole corridor carpet covered in drying blood.

Then the four of them spent the rest of the night scrubbing the carpet with soapy water and brushes, "because when you act without thinking, you have to face the consequences" George imitated their mother's voice realistically which made the others laugh pretty loud and Jade accidentally knocked over her bucket full of soapy bubbles. That, of course led to foam-fight, before Molly made them stop and each of them had to work on different part of the staircase. It did speed up their work, but it wasn't fun at all.

After quick dinner and good-night kisses, they were sent to bed without hot chocolate, because as Molly said, more sugar in their systems would just make it hell to get them to bed.

Jade changed into her PJs and climbed to bed. It wasn't late enough to sleep so she decided to read a bit.

There was a soft knock on the door and when Jade raised her eyes from her book, she saw Arthur and Molly standing awkwardly at the door.

"Come in." she smiled softly, already knowing what this was about.

"Well, honey, we just wanted to make sure you'll go to sleep tonight without worrying ok?" Said Molly softly, sitting down on the side of Jade's bed.

"Ok." She agreed, not sure of she should ask them to just soundproof her bed like it was at Hogwarts or not, but it was the only way she could sleep without worrying so she gave it a try.

"Could you charm my bed the same way it is at school? So even if I had a nightmare, I wouldn't wake you up? That would make me sleep without worrying." Jade explained truthfully, but Molly just looked at her with a very sad smile.

"Jade, we don't mind waking up for you. That's what we do. We had to wake up couple of times last night when Ginny threw up and then couldn't go back to sleep because her head hurt too much. That's just what parents do." Said Arthur and then added. "So no, we're not going to charm your bed. But you can sleep and then wake us up if you have a bad dream. It doesn't matter much to me if I have to wake up few times during the night. We'll just make sure you're ok an then go back to sleep so don't worry about us ok?"

"Alright…" said Jade, but she didn't sound too persuaded.

"Well, don't be up to long, we're going to the Diagon Alley tomorrow morning!" said Arthur cheerfully "…to escape from more cleaning here at home."

Molly playfully smacked his tight and then got p from bed.

"Don't worry, cleaning will wait for you until you get back." She teased and then turned to kiss Jade on her forehead.

"Good night darling, and go to sleep." She rushed Arthur out of the room and closed the door, leaving it open just a crack.

Jade sighed and went back to her book. It was a very interesting one from advanced Defence against the dark arts which she borrowed from the school library. It was an old edition which was no longer used as it only had black and white pictures.

She almost finished the chapter about vampires, when she finally fell asleep, with book abandoned on her lap, with light still on.

She didn't sleep long, when strange sounds woke her up. It was coming from the bathroom. Jade tip-toed across the corridor, walking slowly to the door which was left open, and light was coming from inside.

There she found Ginny, sitting on the floor, wiping her mouth with a piece of tissue. She looked terribly sick, with white face and greyish lips. She was going to say something but another wave of sickness overcame her and she turned back to the toilet.

Jade kneeled down on the floor next to Ginny, holding her long red hair our of her face, while she made slow soothing circles on her back with the other hand.

"Breathe, Gin. It will be ok, I'll go get your mom ok?"

But when Ginny whimpered a little, not wanting to be left alone, Molly was already there, with a damp washcloth and potion to help with the sickness.

"Oh Ginny dear, here, swallow this." Molly gave her youngest child big spool filled with disgustingly looking liquid.

"It tastes terrible, I know, but it will help." She said when Ginny's face contorted in a grimace of absolute disgust.

"Let's get you back to bed now." Suggested Molly after a silent moment when Ginny looked like she will be sick again, but then settled down and leaned against her mom.

Walk back to the small white room was slow, but finally they managed to settle Ginny back into her bad. She was now safely tucked in, under the covers.

"Oh Jade, I'm sorry we woke you up, I had to run down to the kitchen to get the medicine and I'm afraid I wasn't very quiet." Apologized Molly.

"That's fine…really. Will she be ok?" asked Jade, looking at the half-closed door behind which Ginny was snoozing off.

"Of course dear, she just needs some rest and regular doses of the potion. Don't you worry. Off you go now, back to bed, Arthur's taking you lot to the Diagon alley in the morning, and you don't want to miss that, do you?" asked Molly and softly pushed Jade in the direction of her bedroom.

"Good nigh." Jade whispered before closing her door and climbing back under the covers.

Her bed was still nicely warm and comfy, so she didn't even realized how she fell asleep, with the book next to the pillow.

Jade woke up in the morning, surprisingly well rested and ready to get up. Sun wasn't even up yet, but the horizon was just one hue more pale blue than the rest of the sky, indicating that sun will rise soon.

She checked her clock, which indicated it was only quarter past six. There was no rush to get up, although Molly was surely up already, busy with breakfast preparation.

She picked up the book, which slid down to the floor during the night. The bookmark was still in place, marking next chapter – 19 as the place where Jade finished yesterday. _Werewolf transformation._ Written in clear black letters, over the horrific picture of a creature, partly human, partly animal, representing the middle phase of transformation.

Then there was brief history about first documented bites and some laws, which Jade skipped over. She wouldn't be studying this in school for two more years so she could afford skipping to the more interesting articles.

The part where author described werewolves in general was terribly insulting and inaccurate.

Jade remembered Mr. Lupin, sitting at the table in their garden, silently hugging the mug of drinking chocolate Molly offered him. She remembered how he talked to her and how he helped Ginny fix the ribbon which slipped down from her plaid.

And then the talk not too long after their first meeting, when Molly explained how Mr. Lupin is a very kind gentleman, who knows Arthur and her from work, and how him being a werewolf doesn't mean anything, just a small inconvenience once every month when he has to spend the night inside in a safe place, guarded by magic, because he can not control the transformation.

Weasley family never kept secrets, and Molly agreed with Arthur that their children had to learn not to judge people just because everyone else did.

That's why every Weasley child grew up knowing Mr. Lupin as a kind, rather quiet colleague of their dad, who came from time to time and spent time with the family.

They knew he was werewolf because Charlie once heard him discuss it with dad, and after that incident, Molly insisted they explain to the boys why it doesn't matter, and why they shouldn't take Mr. Lupin's condition as something important.

Then when other kids were old enough Molly explained again and again, knowing she is rising smart kids who won't rely on prejudice and won't be scared to stay true to their believes.

Now when Jade read the book chapter, describing werewolves as sneaky, not trustworthy and aggressive she got angry.

Being raised by muggle institutions and foster families she has never faced the reality of magical world, where most of the people still believed the old tales and nuances established long time ago when magic and muggle world were still interlocked.

She grabbed the book and jumped out of the bed, her leg getting stuck in the covers.

She landed hardly on the wooden floor. The situation would have been hilarious if she wasn't furious. She picked herself up and run down the squeaky stairs, still barefoot, wearing her pyjamas.

"This is terrible!" she exclaimed without any greeting, pushing the book right in front of Molly who quickly put away her knitting, covering it with a tea towel.

"What is it dear?" she asked, taking the book from Jade's trembling hands.

"They can't say things like that! It's book from school library, why would they keep books which have such terrible opinions printed in them?" Jade wanted to know.

Molly went through the article really fast, realizing that it was an old edition of the book and she was almost positive that the newer version didn't contain most of the worst words, but still, the idea pretty much described the current situation of the magical community, where werewolves were feared and rejected with prejudices.

She tried to explain to Jade, how things were but it didn't help with at all.

"They can't think like that! What about Mr. Lupin! How can they think he's dangerous? He should just tell them, surely they would understand if he talked to them. Or he could…" Jade was trying to think really hard to find the solution, but Molly stopped her.

"He can't do much honey, there are laws and rules which he has to follow. All we can do to help is to tell people who wan to listen, but you can't force your opinion on others, even if it's the right one. It took centuries to build up that general hate against werewolves and that set the laws we are still using now. I suppose situation could get better if new laws were released but that's not your job to worry about. You still have years and years of school to learn more about magic world, and learn to understand how wizards think nowadays." Molly smiled sadly and set a plate with scrambled eggs and two pieces of toast on the table. "Why don't you eat your breakfast and then hurry upstairs to get ready for the day?"

Sun was up, shining brightly over the hills covered in snow. Jade was sitting at her bed, packing small things to her small bag, the anger over the book forgotten for now.

There were five whole pounds laying on the covers, waiting to be carefully wrapped in her handkerchief and put on the bottom of the bag.

It was all her money she saved in her life and she kept it all the time, saving it for something important, but now she was going to spend it on Christmas presents.

Important Christmas presents for important people in her life.


	56. muggle London

**Another Chapter is here! **

**I hope you'll like it! – I'm pretty sure there's a ton of typos in this one, but if I had to check it would take another week to find time and internet to publish it so …I apologize for mistakes and typos.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Hey Jade?" Fred and George walked inside her room, closely followed by Percy and Ron, who closed the door quietly.<p>

"What's up?" she asked a little bit startled by the procession of boys who walked inside her room.

"We were thinking about Christmas presents for mom and dad, you know, something small." Started Fred and George continued " and we need your help. We want to sneak to muggle London and get dad something for his car, something small but important, we don't know what yet,…" then Fred finished the sentence: " but we need you to help us get there and show us how the muggle money work."

"Well, they work just like wizard money, you go to the shop and then you pay for the item you want to buy." Said Jade slowly as if she was explaining something very complicated to a small child.

"Well, duh, of course, but what about those little coins, you need hundred of the smaller ones to get the bigger ones and then there…" started Fred confused but Jade stopped him.

"Of course I'll help. How much money do we have?" she asked, already thinking about possible presents.

"We have some knuts from Ron and a couple of sicles from us and Perce, but we'd need to change them for muggle pounds in the bank, it should be about six pounds or so." Counted George.

"I'll change the money while Ron tells dad he wants to look at the pet store, then we'll have to somehow get away from him." Explained Percy, looking absolutely serious.

"Alright. So something for the car… what about a set of light bulbs? I once saw a box of light bulbs in a car. They are small, but you need them for the car, and you even need a spare set in case they stop working, so even if the car has good lights, one more set will be needed.

" Awesome!" exclaimed Ron, getting excited for the Christmas present shopping.

"Dad will love those!"

"And what do you have planned for your mom?" asked Jade, putting the bag strap over her head.

"For _our _mom…" started Fred, indicating a large circle, including Jade, with his hands.

"we'll make one present with lots of small things." Finished George. " we usually get her something handmade, I now Ginny has an origami paper box made for mom's rings and small jewellery. She even glued some glitter on top. It looks really neat actually."

"And I have new wooden spoon for her. I made it myself." Stated Ron proudly, "…well, dad helped, but I did part of it too."

"And I have a recipe for the famous Hogwarts's Christmas pudding, which she always remembers in winter and then she sits on the sofa with dad and they talk about the 'good old days' when they spent Christmas together at school in their seventh year. And mom always said that Hogwarts has one of the best Christmas Puddings.

I asked professor Dumbledore myself, and he kindly fetched the recipe for me." Said Percy, visibly content with his clever present.

"Wow. And what about you two?" asked Jade, looking at twins. She had no idea what she should give Molly.

"Well, we got her a set of knitting needles from Hagrid. They are huge, but mom always wanted a pair of big needles to try knit some rugs from all the fabric stripes she has saved over the years." Said George.

"yeah, and Hagrid had an extra pair, so we helped him with setting the pumpkin patch for winter, and he gave them to us as a payment, kind of. Do you know how many weeds we had to pull." Added Fred.

"Knitting…hmmm." Jade looked at the small assortment of needles in a small basket sitting on one bookshelf. Molly gave her some basic ones and that ball of yarn, which was now Jade's winter hat.

"Let's go everyone!" called Arthur from downstairs.

They hurried down, to put on their winter coats and floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

Ginny was sitting on the loveseat in the kitchen, pouting.

"Hey Ginny, don't worry, mom says you'll be well enough by tomorrow and we'll get to pick the Christmas tree together." Ron tried to cheer her up but it didn't work very well.

"Alright, off you go Ron." Smiled Molly sitting next to her youngest daughter and handing her ginger biscuit to help her upset stomach.

They brushed off the ashes from floo travel and stepped into the bright sun of Diagon Alley.

"We have about two hours before Charlie and Bill arrive, we'll meet them in the Leaky Cauldron, so let's stay together alright?" Asked Arthur.

Fred and George exchanged mischievous glance but didn't say anything.

They bought dried figs for Christmas Eve, and did some more shopping from the list Molly sent with them, before Percy nudged Ron's side and winked at his younger brother.

"Dad?" Started Ron, but his dad was busy picking out the nicest bunch of dirigible plums for Molly's Christmas pudding.

"Dad?" Ron repeated, this time much louder and pulled Arthur's sleeve to make sure he was noticed. "Can we go to the pet store? I want to see the rats."

"Sure, wait a second, I'll just pay for these." Smiled Arthur, handing the fruit over to the shop-keeper.

"But I want to go to the book-store!" exclaimed Percy, angrily.

Jade thought he was over-acting a little but it worked.

"I need to search something in one book which we don't have home, it's for the homework from Charms." He explained seriously.

"Well, we'll go to the book store after…" tried Arthur but was interrupted by George.

"We don't want to go there, this is not a day for dusty old geeky shops." He stated, glaring at Percy.

"Dad, I can go there myself, I don't need babysitting, I can manage on my own.

I'll just look up the information I need and I'll meet you … let's say…" Percy looked around, looking for inspiration.

"By the Quality Quidditch Suplies!" suggested Fred.

It was clever choice, as the shop stood at the end of the street, as far away from Gringotts Bank as it only could.

"Alright, see you in a while." Called Percy over his shoulder, sprinting up the street.

"Yeah, let's go see some animals." Yelled Ron and started to push Arthur in opposite direction.

"Percy, don't go anywhere else, book store and back!" called Arthur, before he gave up and let himself to be pushed to the small, quite smelly shop selling magical pets.

It didn't take long to exchange the money. There were long lines of people waiting to take out their gold from their accounts and even longer lines waiting to borrow some coins for holiday shopping but only a couple of boring wizards in muggle suits changing their galleons to pounds.

Soon, Percy was standing in front of the Quidditch store, waving at Jade to catch her attention. She was inside, looking through the assortment of winter scarfs in colors of every team from England.

"Fred, George." She whispered when she noticed Percy was already back.

"Dad? Jade told us there is a band of Christmas hand-bell players on the streets in London, can we go there and look if we can find them?" asked George innocently, looking at his dad with big blue eyes.

"I don't know boys, we should be going to the Leaky Cauldron and wait for your brothers, they should be here any minute." Said Arthur, looking at his wrist watch with small stars circulating around the edge.

"Aw, please! It won't take long!" Fred joined his twin, looking at their father with the same expression of innocence (which wasn't fooling anyone).

"It would only be a couple of minutes, quarter of hour at most." Added Jade, daring to speak directly to Arthur, which she didn't do very often.

"I'll go with them dad, and you can stay here, waiting for Bill and Charlie. We won't go far, we'll stay on the same street, no crossing the road, we'll just look around for a while." Explained Percy, sounding a little anxious.

So far, their plan was working out, but this was critical point when they had to get away from Arthur for a while.

"We really don't have time kids, I'm sor…" Arthur tried again, but Jade interrupted him.

"I know this part of London, I used to live here…before." She scratched her right arm uneasily, remembering the bad year, which ended abruptly by police coming to the house in the middle of the night, taking all four foster kids away.

"It would really take just a while. If we find the music band, we'll watch for a while but then we'll go straight back here. And there's no need to cross the road, or take another street. We won't get lost. I promise." She smiled shyly, and hoped for the best.

"Well, but if you're not back at three, I'll go search for you and you'll be in trouble.

And…" he hesitated for a while. "Mom would kill me if she knew I was letting you go alone, so…you don't have brag about it, alright?"

They were gone before he could change his mind, so Arthur just took all the packages and headed to the Leaky Cauldron, already regretting his decision, but with Jade being so open and asking for something, he just couldn't make himself say no. She never really asked for anything, just silently agreed with everything that happened in her life. He could still remember when Molly told him about how long she had to persuade Jade to pick a summer dress.

He sat down in the corner near the fireplace, setting his purchases on an empty chair.

Jade was leading the way. She knew a small shop with all the car supplies and mechanic tools, which wasn't very far.

They walked inside and Jade took a basket, in case they found something interesting.

There was one whole isle dedicated to car lights. There were small packages of testers, and light-bulbs sold in sets or separately, then at one end, there was a row of bottles with polishing substance for the lights and very expensive looking micro-fibre cloths.

"Well, it's pretty cheap… some of them." Said Percy, kneeling down on the floor to look at the items closely.

"We could get him more smaller things, not just one. We have six pounds…" Percy carefully counted the coins.

"Eight." Corrected Jade and handed him two of her coins. She smiled when she saw startled expression on Percy's face.

"I saved them during the years." She explained.

They spent five minutes looking through the assortment. Jade wasn't very interested in cars so she didn't know much, but still it was more than all her brothers combined, so she took over the discussion and narrowed it down.

"We have enough to get him the basic set of light-bulbs, plus this small pack of testers, and, what about a small bottle of that anti-freeze liquid for windshield washers?" she suggested looking at the boys.

All the items were put to the basket but choosing the color of the anti-freeze liquid was hard.

"Hey, Percy? I'll go check out that yarn store across the street ok? I'll be right back, just stay here." She said looking at Fred and George who were now arguing with Ron who wanted to get the orange bottle, which was supposed to smell like oranges.

"Alright, but hurry, we ought to go back to dad in five minutes." Said Percy pointing to the clock which was hanging over the entrance.

Jade run outside, holding the last three coins in her hand. She looked to both sides of the street. The traffic was busy, but luckily a bunch of people was crossing the road so she joined them, while the cars stopped on both sides, drivers impatiently waiting to be able to move again.

The bell above the shop entrance chimed softly when Jade opened the door.

The shop was filled with elderly women, searching through the piles of yarn balls for the right shade of blue for winter hats or other.

"Excuse me…" started Jade quietly, addressing the lady behind the counter.

"What a lovely surprise to see a young miss like you in my shop." Smiled the shop keeper.

"It's lovely to be here madam, I was wondering if you could help me. I want to knit a gift for…mom… but I only have three pounds left, and no idea what I could do." Explained Jade, starting to panic, as she realized three pounds might buy her one or two balls of yarn at least and she had no pattern to follow.

"Well, it's always nice to have a young customer like you. Now, don't worry, we'll figure it out. Three pounds you're sayin'?" the lady walked out from behind the counter.

"My dear, and you want to knit something?"

Jade nodded, looking lost.

"Now, now, child, let's look at this cotton yarn here." The lady led the way to a huge cardboard box in the corner of the store, with big sheet of paper glued to the front. It was big black letters on it, reading: _**SALE 50% off.**_

"We only have one ball from each color here, left over balls from discontinued batches, but you could choose three, as they are eighty pence each, you'd even have sixty pence left." Smiled the older Lady, pulling Jade by her elbow closer to the box.

There were odd colors, all shades from murky green to brownish grey, but also some balls of bright yarn in orange-red hue and a ball of mustard yellow, which looked faded alone but would be lovely with red. The third ball Jade choose was light grey.

She walked back to the counter, to pay for the yarn when she spotted a bunch of Christmas ornaments hanging from the ceiling.

"We have those for seventy pence." Announced the lady, packing the yarn to a flat box, stuffing the free space with some red tissue paper. "Pick one." She smiled at Jade.

"I only have three pounds, it wouldn't be enough." Objected Jade, handing the money to the seller.

The lady smiled at her and picked one ornament, packing it snugly together with the yarn. "It's Christmas, besides, you will need more yarn one day and being nice to our customers brings them back for further purchases." The lady winked mischievously at Jade and for a tiny fraction of second looked just like Fred and George when they do something brilliant.

"Thank you!" Jade smiled happily, taking the parcel from the lady and putting is carefully to her bag.

"And here's a bunch of free patterns we have out for people who purchase something, let me see if I can find something suitable for you to knit." The lady added, already going through a stack of black and white photocopies of basic patterns they kept on the counter.

"Here it is, easy pattern for washcloth. It's easy enough and all the instructions are in the pattern. Nothing fancy, but if you change colors you can make striped ones." She slid the paper next to the box in Jade's bag and closed it.

"Off you go now, there's no time to waste. Christmas is almost here and you have some knitting to do."

Jade waved at the lady before running out of the shop and crossing the street.

Boys were already waiting for her in front of the shop.

"We did it!" cheered Ron. "Percy paid with muggle money!"

"Alright, let's go, we're already late." Percy grabbed Ron's hand and pulled him in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron, looking quite worried that they would get in trouble.

Jade and twins followed them, running through the chilly air, their winter boots squeaking on the frozen layer of snow on the pavement.


	57. Marauders revived

**Another chapter, sorry it took so long to update… I'll be gone for one week – starting tomorrow with no internet and no computer so please be patient…also my homesickness isn't helping with writing...I'm currently stress-eating cocoa powder (out of chocolate - oh the joys of poor student's life)...**

**Hope you'll like this one. Thank you for the reviews!**

**Enjoy**

Ron and Percy run right into the Leaky Cauldron, sneaking past a man with long blond hair, who was wearing knee high dragon hide boots and long heavy velvet winter coat. He was standing at the entrance of the pub, talking angrily to someone inside.

Jade was about to sneak inside too, looking forward to the inviting warmth of the room, filled with scent of dried-pea soup, but the man turned around swiftly, and she would have run into him, if Fred and George didn't pull her back by her shoulders.

"Another mudblood getting in my way! This place is losing credibility!" he exclaimed angrily, throwing another frown at the bartender who was still looking at him from the other side of the room.

The man looked down on Jade who slipped on the icy pavement and landed on the ground in a heap of winter jacket, mittens and hat which fell down from her head.

"Even worse, I see. One of the Weasley brats, didn't have enough mouths to feed, had to get another one I see." The man offered his elbow to a woman who walked up behind him, and helped her step over Jade, bringing a splash of dirty London snow mixed with salt to her pants.

"Hey!" exclaimed Fred and George at the same time, pulling Jade up and glaring at the man.

"There's apparently too many of you, occupying every free space so decent wizards can't even walk out of the door properly, without stepping over at least one Weasley." Commented the man coldly.

"Do we have some problem here?" asked familiar voice and when Jade looked around, she saw Bill standing at the door.

"Let's go. Fred, George?" said Bill, catching Jade's arm as she almost lost balance on the ice again.

"Good bye Mr. Malfloy." He said coldly, looking at the man who was still standing at the street looking disgusted by the encounter.

"Good bye Mr. Malfloy." Echoed twins in ironic tone and run inside past their brother, who shut the door behind them, leaving Mr. Malfloy standing outside in disbelief.

"Bill! Charlie!" Jade exclaimed hugging her brothers excitedly, together with Fred and George.

Ron was already standing by his Father, who was putting on his winter hat and picking up their purchases.

"We should go, mom's waiting for us." He said, looking tired and quite happy the day was over.

They get into line for floo, as both fireplaces were busy with families going home after a day of Christmas shopping.

Jade wend right before Charlie and Bill, so she stayed behind in the kitchen a bit, instead of running up to her room to change from wet clothes, to see Molly greet her two oldest sons.

It was heart-warming scene. Molly had tears in her eyes and flushed pink cheeks from baking, wearing her old blue apron, but she looked beautiful, happiness shining from her face.

She pulled Charlie into a hug the very same second he landed, not caring about ashes and dust. Bill didn't take long and landed just seconds after his brother.

Molly hugged them both, not willing to let go, even though it was a bit uncomfortable for boys, who had to bend their backs to hug mom properly, they stood there for good ten minutes, before Charlie whispered "Eh, mom, my neck's starting to hurt." And so Molly let them go, still looking at them while they helped dad with all the packages and dusted off the ashes from their travel cloaks.

"Did you have nice journey?" Jade heard Molly ask in the kitchen as she made her was upstairs to change into some sweats and dry socks.

"Lunch's ready!" Ron exclaimed running down the stairs, closely followed by Ginny, who already felt better.

And it was the most delicious lunch Jade had in a long time. After hours outside in the cold, small kitchen in Burrow looked like the most luxurious place on earth.

Air was pleasantly warm and filled with scent of roasted chicken and creamy mashed potatoes. They had blackcurrant jelly for desert and after that, they listened to Charlie's stories about dragons and Bill's tales from Egypt, while munching on the broken or misshaped cookies which Molly didn't want to keep for proper holiday serving.

"Can we go outside and build snow dragon? Just like the one Charlie helped to cure?" asked Ron, jumping up from the floor pillow where he was sitting contently for the last hour.

And so they put on their warm long underwear and wool socks to keep them warm if their jeans got wet. The air was chilly outside. It wasn't sunny anymore and grey clouds were hanging low, with a promise of fresh snow for the next day.

Jade's mittens were caked with icy lumps of snow and she stopped feeling her toes an hour ago, but their masterpiece was well worth it.

Large dragon with long tail, curling around Molly's petunias (which were buried under the snow).

Charlie run inside without saying a word, just to come out only a minute later with the spray-bottle which Arthur brought home once. Muggle invention, which they apparently used to spray water on plants. Fred and George used to chase Ginny around in summer, spraying her with ice-cold water.

Charlie filled it with water and added a bit of green food coloring. He started to spray the dragon lightly, covering it with layer of greenish water. It looked beautiful, but the sun was setting down and they couldn't really see the rich color.

Ginny, who was permitted to go out, if she wouldn't get too exhausted (as she was still recovering from the sickness) suddenly stopped dancing around the dragon and looked down on her shoes.

"My toes hurt." She announced and bent down to try and holds her feet through the shoes.

And so they went inside. Kitchen windows were casting bright light on the snow and sky was turning ink blue. Ginny's toes needed a quick warming charm, but she was left on the sofa scratching her itchy toes as they were defrosting.

"Alright everyone, I was invited for a cup of tea over to the Lovegoods. I should be back for dinner, but if I don't come back, there's casserole in the big red pot, dad will heat it up for you." Said Molly, tying her scarf tightly around her neck.

"Can I go with you and visit Luna mommy?" asked Ginny sweetly.

"No honey, we have something to discuss with Luna's mom and you have to stay here and defrost your toes. I'll take you with me next time.

"Arthur, try not to make a huge mess in the kitchen, I cleaned it this afternoon. And there's a couple of baking sheets which could use some scrubbing if you find time. They could use some serious cleaning, I'm afraid no cleaning charm is strong enough for that burned caramel." She kissed him quickly, before putting on her gloves.

"I'll be back in few hours." She added while Arthur turned the collar of her coat up, to protect her from the wind.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Say hello to the Lovegoods and take your time, you could use a free evening for yourself after all that baking." He kissed her one more time and gently pushed her out of the door, standing on the doorstep in his worn out slippers, watching Molly walk to the gate where they had the apparition spot.

He closed the door and turned around. "Who wants some more cookies and fresh milk?" he asked walking to the kitchen, followed by an army of kids craving more chocolate and gingerbread.

When they were back in the living-room with big glasses of cold raw milk and big plate of chocolate covered nutty cookies, freshly baked today, Jade sneaked upstairs to bring down her knitting.

She has decided to knit the washcloths in combination of red and yellow.

Sitting down on the sofa, she pulled her legs up, covering her lap with one of the blankets which were hanging over the armrest.

The pattern was easy enough to remember and soon Jade was knitting mindlessly, while watching Ron with Arthur play chess.

She was finishing the last quarter of the washcloth (half of which was red and half yellow) when they heard Molly coming in through the back door.

Jade quickly covered the knitting with the blanket and looked innocently at Molly who was standing at the doors, looking at her kids.

Arthur looked at Jade, knowing she was hiding a last-minute present.

"Molly, dear, we've waited for you with dinner, why don't you go upstairs and change into something comfortable and we can eat." He suggested rushing his wife out of the living-room.

"Well, I see you've ate half of the walnut cookies I've baked today, I'm not sure you deserve some dinner at all." She teased him before kissing his cheek with cold lips.

Dinner was lovely, Molly brought back a paper ornament from Luna and promised Ginny that she can send one back to the Lovegoods tomorrow.

Molly sent them to bed early, saying they need to rest, because the Christmas tree must be picked out tomorrow morning, and they will have to walk all the way to the forest and everyone needed sleep for that.

The truth was that there was still one Christmas sweater on Molly's needles, which could use few more rounds before casting off and Arthur was supposed to pack the rest of the presents, which was impossible to do with so many kids hanging around the house.

Percy and Ron protested loudly, while Ginny kissed her mom on the cheek and hugged daddy, clearly exhausted for the long day and her recent illness. Jade didn't feel like sleeping, but being sent to bed early worked nicely with her last-minute present for Molly so she did as she was told.

Charlie and Bill knew what this was about and so they helped to get their younger siblings up to bed before they lounged on the floor in Charlie's room to talk a bit more, happy to see each other after such long time.

Jade pulled out her knitting but she didn't even finish first row when Fred and George sneaked in, closing the door behind them.

"So, let's plan the big back to school after Christmas prank!" George whispered loudly, jumping on Jade's bed.

She pulled the bag with her left over cotton yearn to her pillow, making place for Fred to sit as well.

"Back to school after Christmas prank?" she asked, trying hard not to laugh as she counted the stitches.

"Well, we need to work on that name, sure, but you get the idea." Said Fred, climbing over Jade to sit in the free spot close to the wall.

"And what do you propose?" asked Jade, still knitting. She didn't have time to spare, Christmas was almost here and she didn't even finish the first washcloth yet.

"Something extravagant…" started Fred.

"Epic, unforgettable…" continued George but was interrupted by his twin again.

"the thing is, we were kind of neglecting our duties, you see…"

"With all the Quidditch practices…"

"But we'll do better in summer term, that's why we want you to help us." Finished Fred and both boys looked at Jade expectantly.

She put away the knitting and looked at them seriously.

"Gryffindor's rusty sword! Don't do that! You look exactly like mom when she knows we're up to no good!" exclaimed George, almost falling off the bed.

"Pssst, be quiet." Fred slapped his hand over his brother's mouth and listened for a while, making sure that none of their parents was coming from downstairs.

"Alright, I'm in." smiled Jade without hesitating. She missed the adventurous outings for mischief and pranks now and then, but mostly she missed the feeling of being part of twins' plans.

"Awesome!" whisper-yelled Fred and hugged Jade who didn't expect it and so they both fell back to between the pillows.

"Sorry", he chuckled as George pulled him back up while Jade blushed a bit.

"The plan is to …prolong Christmas, kind of." Explained George looking at them strangely, but he soon snapped out of it.

"Christmas lights, postcards and decorations around the castle."

"… Christmas pudding, and gingerbread as one of the options for dessert…" Fred continued.

"Sounds fun. What about Christmas trees?" asked Jade, already thinking about all the Christmas-y things they could do.

"Definitely…but just small ones, which we could easily carry around and sneak into the teachers' offices and classrooms." Agreed George.

"Oh, and mistletoe!" exclaimed Fred.

They spent the last hour talking and scheming all aspects of their prank, because good prank is well planned prank as George said.

"Oh, and by the way, we thought about calling ourselves Marauders revived...but just Marauders - shortly " Fred stuck his head back into Jade's room when they were sneaking back upstairs to their room. "You know, after the first Marauders."

"Cool." Smiled Jade, although she had no idea who Marauders were, but she could always ask later.

"Oh…and good night. I hope you won't have any… nightmares." Fred smiled softly and closed the door behind himself.

Jade heard them whispering excitedly as they climbed the stairs and she was 100% positive that Molly and Arthur could hear them too, but no one came upstairs so she resumed her knitting and didn't stop until she had the first washcloth neatly cast off the needles and safely tucked in the bottom drawer behind the socks.


	58. oh christmas tree

**Thanks for finding time and review guys! I'm sorry it took so long to update...**

**fantasybookworm2012**** – you asked about Jade being older than Ron – yes, she is one year older – so she went to Hogwarts one year before Ron (in 1990 – according to HP wiki) … right now we are in 1990/91 school year in this story so Ron will be going to Hogwarts after summer – hope that explains your question – I checked the dates in HP wiki, let me know if I made some mistake, but I can't see any…**

**and about the "wet Harry" part in chapter 19 – Ginny has a doll Molly made for her – it's Harry Potter – as Ginny is fascinated by his story (which is well known in magic world) and he (the doll) was wet because they forgot him outside on the rain…**

**thanks for reviewing, here's next chapter**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Next morning was chilly. The fire somehow went out during the night and Burrow woke up to a very cold day.<p>

Molly was already in the kitchen fixing breakfast and Arthur was sitting at the table, talking to Bill who was hugging a cup of steaming black coffee with both hands.

Fire was blasting again in both fireplaces – the huge one for floo in the kitchen and also the smaller fireplace in living-room but house was still cold.

Jade put on an extra pair of wool socks and went downstairs to eat something before they'd go get a Christmas tree. Her very first real tree, which wouldn't be artificial, or bought in a store but real tree they'd pick and cut themselves.

Sun was shining brightly and it was hard to look at the snow reflecting light all around them. They followed Arthur who made a path in the deep snow with his huge winter boots, chatting happily as they went.

The path leading to the forest seemed much longer than last summer. Snow was squeaking under the soles of their shoes and when Jade looked back, there was a stream of light grey smoke coming from the chimneys of the Burrow, which stood well visible on the white snow.

"This one!" exclaimed Ginny, pointing to a huge tree next to her.

"Na-ah! This one's better!" argued Ron.

"Stop it you two, you know it should be Bill's turn this year, then Charlie next year and so on." Arthur held back Ron, who was about to jump on his younger sister and pull her down to the big heap of snow which accumulated on the north side of the tree.

"But it should be Jade's turn, because we kind of skipped her before." Smiled Bill, picking up Ginny and setting her on his shoulders. She hugged his head, and Bill had to reach up and straighten his hat, which she almost pulled down over his ears.

"I wasn't here before so it doesn't count." Jade pointed out quietly. She didn't want to take someone's place. She could happily just stand there and enjoy one of the boys picking out the tree.

"Alright, if you think we should continue in the order oldest to youngest then …" Bill had to stop mid sentence and catch Ginny who was reaching out for the top of the nearest tree and almost fell down. "then I give up my place, just skip me."

"Me too, I'm getting' too old to pick trees anyway, right?" Charlie winked at Jade and looked expectedly at Percy who was standing there in silence, breathing at his fingers which were positively freezing off in spite of the mittens he was wearing.

"Yeah, yeah, you can skip me too, let's just pick up the tree already." He said impatiently.

"Alright, you can skip us too, but we have one condition." Said the twins together. "Jade, you have to pick the most epic tree of the entire forest."

Jade looked around on all the trees. There were small, somehow lighter in color – baby trees. And big, fat ones with long pines and almost black branches, and she had no idea which one of them was the most epic one.

The Christmas trees she saw before were either perfectly even artificial ones, with soft fur of plastic pines, or trees produced in tree farms, grown in rows, all identical, same height and width.

She looked at Arthur, wanting some kind of advice, and he understood.

"We need a tree which will fit our living- room, let's say, nothing higher than me. And we also want one with a lot of branches and not too wide, mom doesn't like when the whole room's filled with tree." He smiled at Jade who was already walking around the trees.

And there it was. The right height, maybe slightly taller than Arthur, but not more than two inches, and it wasn't too wide, but at the same time it looked fluffy and full of branches with long pines. There were even two or three pine cones on top.

She looked around, smiling shyly at everyone.

"Is this one ok?" she asked, but twins pushed her down to the snow seconds after, all of them landing on top of each other.

"It's awesome!" Exclaimed Ron, trying to hug the tree, pines poking his cheek.

"We have a tree!" chanted Ginny running around.

"Alright, everyone, step back." Announced Arthur, coming to the tree with long axe he brought with him.

"Kind of tradition to do it the muggle way." Explained Charlie, standing next to Jade, as they watched Arthur cut down the tree.

"Nah, it's just because of dad's love for all things muggle." Chuckled Bill and pulled back Fred and George by the hoods of their jackets because they were getting too close to the flying axe.

"What a lovely tree" Molly exclaimed, coming to the living room where Arthur was putting the snow-covered tree to the stand.

It did stand slightly askew, and it almost touched the ceiling.

"Jade picked it up,…" Ginny announced, and Molly turned around to compliment Jade on the selection of this year's tree but Ginny continued without stopping "…can we decorate it now? Please!"

"Arthur dear, can you run up to the attic and bring down…" but Molly was interrupted again by flash of emerald light coming from the kitchen's fireplace.

"Arthur?" an unknown voice called from the kitchen.

Kids watched their dad run to the kitchen and after quick hushed conversation through floo he came back with serious face, already heading for the stairs.

"I'm sorry kids, they called from work, pre-Christmas emergency. I should be back around six Molly." He looked at his wife with apologetic eyes. Arthur knew how Molly hated these emergency calls during holidays but there was no way out of it.

"Alright, you heard daddy, he'll be back before dinner and you can decorate the tree together. Why don't you lot go outside and play after lunch? It's such a lovely day." Molly suggested from the kitchen, where she was packing a sandwich with cold ham and mustard for Arthur to take with him.

Jade sat down on the sofa, next to Percy and pouting Ginny. Fred and George who were sitting on the floor looked equally bored.

Charlie was lying under the tree, looking up at the ceiling through the branches, enjoying the peace and quiet, and the beautiful scent of pines and almost-Christmas, when Bill threw a ball of old newspaper he found stuck between the cushions of the couch, to the tree and sent a shower of half melted snow straight to his brother's face.

A little fight started with twins somehow getting into it and soon all four boys were laughing and rolling around on the floor, almost kicking down the tree more than once.

Arthur run down the stairs dressed in his work robes, tying the travel cloak under his chin. He chuckled at the antics of boys and wished the rest of his kids nice day, before going to the kitchen to kiss Molly good-bye and floo to work.

"That's enough! Lunch's ready, go clean up a bit." Scolded Molly, looking at all the cushions and throw pillows which were lying around the previously-clean living room.

They spent afternoon outside, sledging on the hill behind the house. Soon they had nice track made all the way down to the kitchen door and it was getting faster with every slide down.

Sun was already setting down when Fred and George decided to slide down the hill together, which gave them extra speed and they flew straight through the door when mom opened it to call them inside. They stopped under the table, bringing in snow and ice.

Green flames flashed in the fireplace as their dad came home, and suddenly there was no time for Molly to be angry with her kids for messing up her clean kitchen or for almost knocking her over. All Weasleys clan suddenly run inside, filling the kitchen with excited laughter and questions about daddy's day at work and about when they could start decorating the tree (which was now completely snow-free and ready).

"Let your dad have some rest." Said Molly, pulling Ron down from the chair where he was standing, getting ready to jump on the back of his father to give him a hug.

"That's quite alright dear." Smiled Arthur and leaned over Jade and twins to kiss his wife quickly on her cheek. "I'll bring down the boxes just let me change to something more comfortable first." He said to his kids, pulling at the string which was holding the cloak on his shoulders.

After quickly running upstairs to change from work/snowy clothes, Weasley kids all gathered in the tiny living room, enjoying the warmth of the fire. It was pleasant, after all day spent outside.

"Here we are." Announced Arthur as he walked down the stairs, levitating several boxes filled with Christmas ornaments.

There were electric Christmas lights (Arthur's Christmas present from few years ago), big box full of tinsel, smaller one filled with ancient glass ornaments from Molly's grandma, and a couple of boxes filled with ornaments kids made during the years.

Molly brought a plate of gingerbread hearts and stars, with red ribbon tied through the center. She carefully decorated them with thin white lines of sugar icing and they looked like little pieces of art. They would hang them up on the tree.

There was another plate of gingerbread and glass of creamy raw milk for everyone.

"And I have a surprise." Smiled Arthur, pulling out a box wrapped in ordinary brown paper bag. "Our boss apologized for calling our team on our day off and after we were back from the mission, he got us this…" he said excitedly and pulled down the bag, revealing a rather large box of muggle chocolate ornaments with strawberry fondant filling.

"Muggles put them on the tree, look, they have little loops on top to put them up like this…" he hung the first piece of ornament on the closest branch and admired the way it sparkled in the light of fire.

"Can we have one?" asked Fred reaching for the box. Each of the kids got one piece of candy, while Arthur put the lights on the tree. They knew lights go on first, so they could hide the cables closer to the centre of the tree. Then ginger bread and chocolate, then paper decorations, and mom's old glass ornaments went on the tree at the end, so no one would knock them down while decorating.

The carpet was covered in tinsel and everyone was busy adding the last touches to their masterpiece when Arthur sneaked into the kitchen, bringing a small chocolate, wrapped in shiny red paper with him.

"A chocolate for lovely lady." He smiled, handing Molly the muggle candy over her shoulder as she was standing at the counter, finishing last batch of fig newts.

She giggled when he tried to kiss her ear and turned around, to find Arthur standing close to her, holding a small branch of mistletoe over their heads, smiling mischievously. It was the same smile George and Fred had when they were caught doing something silly.

"You mister, are very sneaky. The chocolate was just trap wasn't it? To make me turn around and then I'd be trapped under the mistletoe with you." Smiled Molly, looking up into the insanely blue eyes of her husband.

"Of course not, I saved the chocolate from the hungry candy addicted gang we have in the living room because I knew you like strawberry fondant the best. And the mistletoe just happened to be in my pocket so I thought…why not?" he winked at her and Molly blushed a little.

"And how did the mistletoe got inside your pocket? I'm pretty sure it wasn't there yesterday, when I washed these corduroys for you." She giggled like a teenaged girl.

"Well, I've spent whole morning in the forest looking for some, while our kids were searching for the best tree as you know." He whispered and stepped even closer to Molly.

"Well, we wouldn't waste a perfectly fine mistletoe right?" smiled Molly and kissed Arthur, feeling just like when they were still at school and he would sneak up behind her during Christmas in a classroom.

Another snow storm was starting and it was beautifully cosy inside. When there was a knock on the window.

Jade run to open it and let a rather large, faun colored owl inside. It was carrying an envelope addressed to Jade, with neat even handwriting which Jade recognized as Joyce's.

It was a beautiful Christmas card, with little verse inside and wishes for Merry Christmas from Joyce, who also reminded her that every Christmas is different and every Christmas is beautiful when we spend it with people who love us.

There was also a line about the charms essay which Joyce was struggling with and the letter was ended with cheerful _" xo xo see you after New Year, Joyce."_

Jade smiled and carried the owl on her arm to the kitchen, followed by Charlie who insisted to check the bird over, if it wasn't too frozen from the storm to fly back home.

When they entered kitchen, Molly was still standing in Arthur's embrace and they were still kissing, to which Jade reacted like honorary Weasley kid with loud "Eeew!" accompanied by similar sound of disgust from Charlie. They laughed when Arthur looked at them with a stare which surely wanted to be imitation of mom's most deadly stare but it looked ridiculous on his face.

"I got a letter from friend at school. Can I write her back?" asked Jade, sitting at the chair close to Molly, straightening out the card in front of her, reading it again.

"Oh that's lovely. Of course you may write her back, let me check if we still have some Christmas cards." Molly opened drawer on the side of the table and went through the stack of cards and envelopes. She found one small card with Christmas tree and golden star on top and even an empty envelope, which was slightly bigger and didn't match the card completely.

"Now, we could add something little to the card, a gingerbread perhaps?" smiled Molly, handing Jade the card so she could write on it, while she went to the living room and soon came back with one of the preciously decorated heart with red ribbon. She wrapped it in a piece of wax baking paper to protect it from any humidity of the snow and pushed it inside the envelope, sealing it tightly.

"Alright little one." Jade talked to the owl, which ate a bit of crumbs from coffee cake they had after lunch and drank a bit of water. "Can you bring this to Joyce? Be careful, it's snowing outside and I don't want you to hurry and get lost. Take care of yourself." She smiled as she opened the window and let the owl out. "Have a safe journey back home!" she called after the bird quickly disappearing in the snow.


	59. christmas eve

**I am sorry for not updating recently. this is a very short chapter – Christmas one …. my laptop died and I hoped I'll be able to save it soon but it's taking forever… I had more before-christmas chapters saved there so I might add them later if I 'll be able to somehow save them from the computer…**

**I am typing this on my sis' laptop with weird french Keyboard and it's taking forever to find the right letter – apologies for all the typos in this chapter.**

**hope you have beautiful Christmas **

**I will ba back with regular length chapters soon, i promise.**

**enjoy**

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><p>it was eleven o' clock, christmas eve, and all the Weasleys were sitting in the living room, in comfortable silence, drinking butterbeer or warm apple cider.<p>

There was ton of snow outside and temperature dropped down in the last couple of hours, causing the snow to freeze on top, creating a shell of ice.

Molly went to the kitchen, taking a couple of empty cups with her.

Jade got up from the floor where she was sitting on the throw pillow and followed her to the tiny kitchen.

"ahem..." she started, and Molly turned around pleasantly surprised. Jade rarely asked for something on her own.

"could I... would it be too much trouble if I went to the village for midnight mass?" Jade finally mumbled looking at her shoes.

" you want to go to church?" asked Molly surprised, setting the mug she was holding down on the table.

"it' s because it was the only Christmas thing I had some years, you know, when I wasn' t in foster family or when I wasn' t in a very good one..." explained Jade awkwardly. " but I don' t have to go if it' s too much trouble, I just thought..."

"No, it's perfectly ok!" exclaimed Molly, hugging Jade lightly. "it' s your tradition and it will be nice to see a part of your Christmas. I will be happy to take you, and maybe someone else would go with us too."

Molly walked into the living room, followed by Jade.

"I am going to church at midnight, with Jade. It is one of her Christmas traditions and she wants to go. Anyone else wants to join us?"

Boys looked at them with wide eyes, considering the offer. It wasn' t every day when they had an occasion to join muggle ceremonies but it was freezing outside.

"I'll go!" announced Charlie, getting up.

"me too!" joined in Ginny and jumped up from daddy's knees where she was dozing off for the last hour.

"we'll go with you!" exclaimed twins at the same time.

"alright, but no pranks there. It's muggle church and it is serious celebration of Christmas, you won' t cause any trouble. understood?" asked Molly strictly.

Arthur looked hopefully at Bill. He really wanted to go and see how muggles celebrate Christmas but he couldn' t leave Percy and Ron alone if Bill wanted to go with everyone else.

"we will all go." announced Bill, pulling Percy's arm a bit as he got up from the sofa.

and so it was decided.

Half an hour later all Weasley kids were gathered in the mudroom pulling on their winter boots and hats, looking for lost mittens and arguing which scarf was whose.

There was silent atmosphere of excitement as they walked down the hill, Ginny and Ron, sliding down on the sledge, which Arthur brought with them.

The village looked almost like from magical world, with yellow light shining from each window and electric street decoration, bright and colorful on every lamppost.

" alright, remember to be quiet and respectful, and do not point at anyone, don' t talk about magic... don' t talk at all." finished Molly, getting nervous. Suddenly it didn't seem like such a great idea to take all her kids to a crowded muggle church.

But nothing went wrong. Mass was slightly longer than normal, with lots of christmas carols and beautiful festive sermon from the priest, words filled with hope qnd wishes of peace for the world.

Molly found herfself clutching Arthur's arm as she hummed along the silent night, not knowing the muggle version of lyrics. Arthur stood close to her and smiled when his wife's eyes glittered with happy tears as they watched all their kids in the row in front of them, standing together, Bill holding Ginny in his arms for the last twenty minutes when she fell asleep.

After shaking hands with the priest who was standing at the entrance of the church, wishing peaceful christmas to people leaving home, Weasley family climbed up the hill, back to their home.

Everything was silent and snow was shining in the moonlight, almost full moon as Arthur realized, feeling uneasy when he remembered his former colleague from the Order.

For Relus, this Christmas will end shortly, as the full moon was the following night.

Once they were safely back inside, away from snow and freezing wind, Molly kissed each of her kids good-night and sent them upstairs to get ready for bed.

Jade turned around, pausing on the first step "thank you for taking me to the midnight mass" she smiled at Arthur and Molly, who were standing in the kitchen, collecting all the jackets and mittens which kids dropped after coming back from outside.

" you are very welcome dear, but it was our pleasure. they really have beautiful traditions, those muggles." smiled Arthur, taking a handful of wet jackets from Molly.

"yeah, they do." agreed Jade.

she climbed up the stairs to her room, put on her flannel PJs and snuggled under warm covers, pressing her cold toes against her shins to warm them up.

And she fell asleep almost instantly, excited for tomorrow morning.


	60. Christmas continues

**My laptop is still dead. Still using the one with weird keyboard and as I type slowly, the story is harder** **to put „on the paper" ...sorry for the delay, and thank you for reading, and for adding my story to your story-alert, and favorite story and all. **

**I´m thinking about writing about this schol year and then take it more quickly and kind of go through the main events in each year, until Jade grows up, then we could see how she gets to fall in love/or not...and what she´ll do with her life...what do you think?**

**Thanks **

**I hope you will like this one.**

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><p>Jade woke up early in the morning when Ginny jumped on her bed, screaming „Christmas is here!"<p>

Sun was rising and everything outside was covered in ice.

They run downstairs where boys were already waiting around the tree, with Ron hopping from one foot to another, excited to open his present.

Soon Molly and Arthur came downstairs, which was a sign for the kids to start opening the gifts.

They didn´t dig in furiously, but carefully sorted out the gifts, reading tags and admiring the wrapping paper. When everyone had a gift in their arms, they unwrapped them in one short moment, filled with chaos, joyful exclamations and pieces of red and green paper flying through the air.

Molly and Arthur sat on the sofa, still holding their gifts, savouring the moment of pure happiness, watching their kids on Christmas morning.

Everyone´s gift included a famous christmas sweater, hand-knitted by Molly.

Jade got her first Weasley sweater knitted specialy for her. It was light grey, in a shade which almost resembled the lavender hue of twilight sky, with turquoise „J" on front.

Molly used a left over yarn which she found at the bottom of her knitting basket. She remembered knitting socks in turquoise for twins, couple of years ago, and now there was just enough yarn left to finish Jade´s sweater.

Each kid also got a box of their favourite candy or some baked goods from Molly and new quill for school.

„Go on dad! Look at your present now." Suggested Bill, looking at their dad as he carefully unwrapped the box containing all the car-related things his kids bought for him.

Arthur´s eyes were shining brightly when he looked up and smiled widely at all his kids.

„Awesome, more things to keep him busy with the car, I just hope it will keep him from repairing it soon." Said Molly half-joking.

„Mom, now it´s your turn." Said Ginny and sat down close to her mom, handing her a pile of small gifts wrapped in different kinds of paper.

Molly loved every single thing her children made for her, taking her time to admire every little detail of each creation and thanking everyone many times.

They spent next couple of hours sitting around the living-room, eating cinnamon swirls and drinking coffee or cocoa, looking over their gifts.

Jade was snuggled in the armchair, with her feet pulled under her, hugging the sweater close and watching her family enjoy christmas morning. Joyce was right, this was very different christmas than the ones she used to know before, and as far as she could say it was the best one.

Rest of the Christmas break was spent sledging and building snow forts outside or relaxing in front of the fire with nothing to do, but days were going by too quickly and way too soon, Jade was standing in her room, with a handful of clean schol uniforms which Molly sent upstairs for her to pack.

There was only one more day left, before they´d have to go back, and although Jade missed schol, she wasn´t too sure she wanted to go back.

She spent the last days as close to Molly or Arthur as she could, always staying behind, helping in the kitchen instead of sliding down the hill with the rest of the kids, sorting laundry or casting on new knitting project, just to have some reason to spend her time close to her new parents.

But she couldn´t stop time and the day came when she was leaning out from the train window, eyes filled with tears as she waved good-bye to Molly, Arthur, Ginny and Ron, who stood at the platform nine and three quarters.

„don´t worry, we´ll have lots of fun at schol, there´s that Christmas all year round project we have to plan..." reasured her George, pulling her suitcase inside the compartment, where they were sitting.

„... and we´ll get lots of exams and homework which will speed time up and soon it will be summer." Frowned Fred, when he remembered the essay he still had to finish.

Even after twins tried to cheer her up, Jade spent most of the train ride, sitting quietly by the window, hugging her knees and dreaming about the summer day, when the train will be going the other way and she´ll be getting closer to her home, instead of traveling north, like she did now.

The dinner was splendid and castle was still decorated with Christmas trees in the great hall and little wreaths of holly could be found in common room but the rest of the festive decorations was gone.

„we'll meet you down here in five minutes." George pulled Jade's school robe when she was about to climb up the staircase to the girls' part of the dorms.

She nodded, still feeling a little bit lost at the castle, somehow, she was more homesick now than before Christmas.

„so we want to start with our plan as soon as possible, you know, keep it low for a while..." started Fred as soon as Jade walked down the stairs and joined them in the common room, pulling her christmas sweater over the flannel PJs.

„...just small stuff to blend in, kind of." Continued George, handing Jade a piece of fudge they brought from home.

"And once professors try to put down the decorations, you know, they don´t do it all at once, but slowly…" interrupted Fred.

"we´ll just keep adding more and more to make their efforts useless. It will drive them crazy." Laughed George and they both looked at Jade for approval.

"Alright," she smiled, "but we can´t keep it up forever, I love Christmas, but still… it would be odd to have Christmas decorations up around the castle in May…" she explained looking at them.

"I´d say we need some final date when our prank would end, in some big exciting…" Jade didn´t know what exactly should end their plans, but she knew it has to be epic.

"Fireworks!" exclaimed twins at the same time.

They made plans and then went to bed.

The final date was set for the end of the February, because they agreed that there would be no Christmas at Hogwarts without snow, and it usually melted during the first week of March.

Jade woke up earlier than usually, turning off the alarm clock before it woke up the rest of her roommates.

She climbed down the stairs, crossing the common room which was still dark, the only light produced by fire in the fireplace.

She walked inside the Great Hall, closely followed by twins. George winked at her and sat down at the table, taking a toast from the plate.

Jade was tired, but she managed to hang one hundredth Christmas postcards around the corridors before breakfast and it was well worth the early wake up call.

Fred and George took some postcards from the decorations in common room and made copies of them. The magic would wear off after some time, even if professors didn´t take them down, so they´ll have to replace them every second day.

Together with post cards, they hang up Christmas decorations and had a couple of handfuls of tinsel in their bags, for "in between the classes decorating" as Fred called it.

First two weeks it was almost unnoticeable how Christmas decorations started to disappear.

But as the January got nearer to its end, the three new Marauders had more and more work to do every morning.

Soon, Jade was getting up at five in the morning, when it was still dark outside. George borrowed a couple more decorations before they disappeared completely, and now they had wide assortment of Christmas décor hidden in their school trunks.

Students loved the prolonged festivities, but it was slowly getting on professors´ nerves and Jade felt almost relieved when the weekend of Valentine´s day came.

"That means we only have two more weeks and we will be able to sleep until seven! Seven!" she exclaimed, throwing herself down on the armchair next to Fred.

"Ts, ts ts, as a marauder, you need to set your priorities. Do you want to sleep longer, or…" started George.

"…make this world a better, funnier, place?" finished Fred.

He bent down and pulled a box from under the sofa where he was sitting.

"What is that?" asked Jade cautiously.

Fred waved his wand and the box replicated almost immediately. They had all became experts on replicating charms, being able to perform them almost wordlessly.

„This, my dear sister is the mistletoe. It will go well, thematically, with all the kissing and lovey-dovey stuff which…" explained Fred, sounding exhausted.

"…which, as you will see, is gonna get intense, and pretty disgusting in the next two days." Finished George, grabbing a box.

"Let´s do this before breakfast starts, I would like to have the day off and catch up on some sleep."

They worked slowly, but effectively, hanging small bunch of mistletoe berries over every door which was likely to be used during the weekend.

When Jade passed around a group of sixth year girls after lunch, she was no longer sure it was such a good idea.

Together with Marauders´ effort to keep up the Christmas decorations, professors and Mr. Filch, placed some Valentine´s day cards and small red paper hearts around the castle. Mistletoe, however, seemed to be the most popular one, as groups of students were hanging around the doors, girls giggling uncontrollably every time they caught a boy.

"Bleh." Frowned Deric when they walked out of the castle with Jade, after meeting together in front of the great hall.

"I love the Christmas decorations, it´s nice to get some festive atmosphere now when the first round of exams starts." He smiled, holding the door open for Jade , letting her pass through, before he walked behind her, making sure they wouldn´t be under the huge mistletoe wreath at the same time.

"But this mistletoe thing… I don´t know, it´s getting out of hand." He shook his head and pulled the collar of his cloak closer as the wind blew down a handful of snowflakes from the roof.

"Yeah, that wasn´t the best idea at all." Agreed Jade blushing, and decided that no more mistletoe will be placed around the castle until next year.


	61. fireworks

**I don´t kow if I´ve mentioned it before, but of course Harry Potter and all things around it belong to J.K. Rowling – we all know that, right?**

**Sorry for the delay in updating. My laptop is still dead. It will need new disk and then they´ll re-instal everything...it should be back home tomorrow, which will mean more regular updates. I have next three chapters planned in my head but no computer to type on... let´s hope it changes soon.**

**Thanks ****xWellJustMex**** , ****Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall, HpDork FreakaZiod, ****Cookie05, llamasandsnickuhsbahrs for commenting! **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>The morning of the final prank was hectic. Fred and George had a handful of fireworks ready for the evening and Jade was still working on the sketch of the picture they were going to create in front of the castle.<p>

There was an inscription "keep Christmas in your heart" which then ended in huge spiral leading to the center of the field, where the biggest fireworks would start.

They would get it ready after dinner and light up the tracks of fireworks around nine when most of the students are still in common rooms, so they would see it.

Slytherin´s common room is in the dungeons so they won´t be able to enjoy the show, but who cares? – as Fred remarked.

They had it all set and planed by lunch time and spent the evening finishing up some homework and acting as innocently as they could, but at dinner, Jade could already feel the excitement in the air.

They got up from the table and walked out of the great hall. It wasn´t an unusual sight, Fred and George spent a lot of time with Jade and three of them could be often seen together chatting cheerfully, what meant that new pranks would be pulled soon.

Professor McGonagall looked after them with weary eyes. After weeks of relative silence from the Weasley twins and Jade, she was sure a prank would come. In fact, she was almost positive they had something to do with the Christmas decorations constantly present in the castle.

Professor Snape run into her office four times last week, throwing handfuls of holly and mistletoe on her table, demanding explanations. Almost all teachers and employees of Hogwarts knew who was the mischief maker responsible for this, but for now they had no evidence and nothing harmful happened so Professor McGonagall didn´t really know if she would punish the students if she found out who it was.

You can´t very well give detention for spreading Christmas cheer, can you?

It was still chilly outside and snow was slippery and covered in ice at night (although it got soggy and almost melted after the sun was up).

The new generation of Marauders worked like a team. Silently they stomped small paths through the frozen snow and after they´ve met in the middle, George handed his siblings bags filled with powder they took out of the fireworks and they poured it on the corridors of frozen snow.

"We have to work quickly, if the snow starts to melt and soaks the powder it won´t work." Whispered Fred and poured a handful of grayish substance on the ground.

Jade looked around. Preparations were finished, they were now waiting for the clock on the castle to chime nine times. Everything looked peaceful. Sky was clear with stars and it promised bright tomorrow. Forest was dark and gloomy but Hagrid´s house was illuminated by warm yellow light shining through his windows.

Jade could see silhouettes of her brothers, standing still on the other side of the field.

The big hand on the clock moved to the very top and loud bells started to chime. Fred, standing in the middle, lit up a match and started first small fireworks.

It worked like miracle and when the red sparkles died, faces appeared in windows and Jade could hear students laughing and calling their friends to come and look at the show.

The bells chimed for the last time and that was the signal to light the paths which would create the inscription.

It worked quite well, but the powder exploded in a very violent manner, sending showers of stars in every direction, earning a series of "Awww!" and "Ooooh!" from the watching students.

The powder wasn´t waterproof, however and soon Jade found herself running after the sparkles and lighting them up again after they ended in a particularly wet area of the ground.

Fred and George were doing the same and soon there were huge black letters on the snow, illuminated by long lasting fireworks surrounding the area. The large spiral burned really well, but at the end when it was supposed to start the largest fireworks the sparkles went off again.

Fred, George and Jade, not wanting to ruin the show all jumped to the middle and set the rackets on fire.

For a little while, which seemed like eternity to the three waiting kids, the fireworks exploded, sent them flying away from the middle of the spiral, knocking the breath out of Jade.

As she was lying on the snow, looking up at all the red and golden stars slowly falling down from the fireworks, jade realized two things.

First of them was that professor McGonagall has seen the show too and she´ll be coming down really soon, and second thing were Jade´s eyebrows. They got completely burned during the explosion.

Fred and George got up from the ground at the same time, running to Jade.

"Are you ok?" George asked while Fred pulled Jade up by her hands.

"Yeah, and you?" she asked, noticing a big shiny burn on Fred´s right hand. She touched the side of the wound gently and he winced, although, it could have been the effect of professor´s McGonagall´s voice coming from the entrance.

"This is enough! Hanging up Christmas decoration around the castle and on the whomping willow is one thing, but staying outside, after dark and setting the field on fire! What were you thinking!"

Professor McGonagall was standing right at their side now, but she didn´t bother to speak more quietly. She looked over Jade´s face, gave quick cold glance at Fred´s burned hand and brushed off some ashes from George´s jacket.

"You will go to the headmaster´s office now. You can expect week of detention which you will serve in my office at eight after dinner. Plus whatever punishment the headmaster finds necessary." She announced strictly and lead them to the castle. Jade could head applause and congratulations from the students who were still looking out of the windows as the last fireworks went out, but they seemed far away now, when all the excitement was lost in her worries.

Professor Dumbledore was still wearing the dress robes which he had at dinner. His office was dark and the only light was coming from a couple of candles floating around his desk.

Dumbledore himself was standing by the window. He turned around when three young Gryffindors walked in, and Jade realized he was smiling.

"You may sit down is you wish, I myself prefer to stand or walk a bit after dinner. It helps digestion."

George and Fred walked to the comfortably looking chairs and sat down but Jade was still too shocked to move and she decided it would be safer option to look at her shoes and pretend she wasn´t there.

"I assume, you three are the authors of the prolonged Christmas prank. Am I right?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes shining in the light from the candles.

"Yes, sir." Answered George, looking headmaster in the eyes. Jade watched him with terror. Neither of the boys looked guilty or scared about the punishment.

"We think it was…" started Fred.

"…one of our best pranks, sir." Continued George, and then he looked at Jade who was still frozen in place.

"Indeed it was. I have never enjoyed Christmas as much as I did this year. I always thought we take the decorations down too soon." Smiled Dumbledore and offered them a plate of gingerbread.

"And those charming knitted sweaters were my favorite." Continued Dumbledore.

"That was all Jade´s idea. She suggested we make miniature copies of Weasley´s sweaters and so we used the ones from previous years." Explained Fred, and Jade´s eyes got even wider when all three pairs of eyes looked at her waiting for confirmation or at least some sign that she was proud of her idea, but she couldn´t speak.

"Oh well, I suppose the Christmas is really over now?" asked Dumbledore, sitting down behind his desk.

"It is, sir. We will enjoy mornings without early wake up calls now." Said George.

"At least for a while." Added Fred.

"So, now for the punishment. Professor McGonagall has already given you a full week of detention. I expect you to be there on time every night, understood? Christmas cheer is nothing bad, but next time…" Dumbledore winked at them "…you need to take more precautions and do pay attention to safety. Burned eyebrows and hands are one thing, but fireworks are for professionals and adults. I´m sure you can find other ways for celebrating." Dumbledore yawned and looked at his watch.

"It´s time for bed and you have classes tomorrow, I won´t keep you any longer. This time it will be just warning. But if similar accidents should repeat in the future, I assure you, more severe punishment will be waiting for you. Safety first, fun second. Alright? After all, I have a castle full of students to take care about." Finished Dumbledore in apologetic tone, and when they were leaving, Jade noticed a bunch of mistletoe berries hanging over the door of his office.

"That was close." Laughed Fred as they walked through the corridors.

"Could have been much worse, plus it was worth it!" answered George.

"everyone has seen the show, it was epic." Exclaimed Fred, but winced when his burned hand brushed against the fabric of his jacket.

"Quick stop at the hospital wing would do you some good." Announced George and pushed his twin and Jade in opposite direction.

Madam Pomfrey grew Jade´s eyebrows back, and checked over the small scratches on her face, then applied generous layer of purple paste over Fred´s burned hand and wrapped it in bandages.

She sent them away, with some remarks about fireworks being dangerous and how they shouldn´t be tolerated at Hogwarts.

When Jade finally climbed to bed, her roommates were already asleep, but there was a small note lying on her pillow saying "We loved the fireworks, and we´ll keep Christmas in our hearts"

She smiled and set the note carefully to her bedside table, but even though she felt tired, sleep wouldn´t come.

Jade could see Molly, disappointed because of the detention, and she saw Fred´s burned hand, which would hunt her in the nightmares for a long time. She also saw Dumbledore, saying that next time they do something dangerous, there will be consequences, and then Molly again, angry at her, for supporting twins in their ideas.

Jade woke up next morning and when she went down to breakfast with girls, Fred and George were already sitting at the table, telling their friends about last night. They took it as something great and Dumbledore´s lecture was a mere compliment, not a warning for them.

Jade finally let go of her fears and enjoyed beautiful sunny Monday, but when McGonagall called her after their transfiguration class, a heavy stone fell to her stomach as Jade wasn´t sure if she wouldn´t throw up. Her hands were sweating as she approached the desk and waited for professor McGonagall to start speaking.

"Miss Mraz, I hope you will remember your detention tonight, eight sharp, in front of my office. Please remind your brothers to be on time."

"Yes, professor." Nodded Jade and looked at the door, wishing to be anywhere else.

"And, Miss Mraz, I need to tell you that I will be informing your parents about yesterday´s incident. It is standard protocol to inform parents after dangerous events." Professor finished strictly and let Jade go.


	62. feeling blue

**Sorry guys, I know it took me forever to update but I don't have internet right now + tons of exams at school. **

**I have already written next chapter, it just needs some final touches and I'll update soon :) **

**Thans for being patient with me and thanks for commenting and adding story to your favorites.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>It rained all afternoon on monday, and when Jade woke up the following day, sky was still clouded and snow was grey and muddy on some places.<p>

Jade walked down to the great hall for breakfast with her roommates, like every day.

And like every day, she sat down next to the twins who were surrounded by their classmates, discussing the newest training schedule for the quidditch team which Wood posted on the corkboard in the common room.

Jade put some scrumbled eggs on her plate and she was just buttering the toast when the mail came.

Owls of all kinds and sizes were flying down from the open windows under the ceiling, sending showers of rain water down on students.

Apparently it has started to rain. There was one particularly big and angry looking school owl, carrying bright red envelope which landed in front of Fred who was sitting in the middle of the three Weasley troublemakers.

Jade has never seen the twins so pale before.

„Open it." Whispered George, and so his brother pulled the flap of the envelope, which jumped out of his hands and great hall was instantly filled with loud voice.

„I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ANGRY AT YOU! ALL YOUR JOKES IN THE PAST WERE NOTHING COMPARED TO THIS CATASTROPHE YOU HAVE CREATED! ALMOST SETTING YOURSELF ON FIRE AND SHOWING OFF IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL HOW FOOLISH YOU CAN BE! I AM DISAPPOINTED! NOTHING LIKE THIS WILL EVER HAPPEN AGAIN, UNDERSTOOD?! I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE THREE OF YOU WERE THINKING!" the envelope exploded and covered Fred's plate with smoking ashes.

Jade looked down at her plate, suddenly feeling sick. She could hear Fred and George, joking with their friends by her side. They recovered quickly, all the embarassment forgotten as they were describing the fireworks accident again.

She pushed away the food and collected her school things.

„I'll see you in class." She told Maddie who was sitting opposite her and left before anyone could stop her.

The day was awful. Jade couldn't concentrate during classes, her head was full of Molly's voice saying how she disappointed them.

The rain wasn't adding to the atmosphere, and soon she found herself sitting on her bed, quietly working on her homework and wishing the day was over already.

Jade didn't go to dinner and politely refused twins' offer to go get her some snacks from the kitchen later at night when they were coming back from the detention. It wasn't too bad. McGonagall gave them some lines to write and sections of textbooks to copy.

Wednesday brought some sunshine and even though the sky was clear, wind was keeping the air chilly.

After morning classes, they had the afternoon free, which Gryffindor quidditch team used for two hours long intense practice which left most of the players exhausted and angry with Wood, who insisted they will meet tomorrow morning for one more hour of training.

Fred and George climbed the stairs to the common room, happily planning next small prank which they could pull on Snape, but when they got inside their plans changed.

Jade was sitting close to the window, table in front of her was covered in finished essays and homework tables filled with calculations and diagrams. She has finished them all while ago, and now she was sitting on the chair, hugging her knees and looking out on the sunlit fields.

„Feeling blue sis?" asked George and jumped down on the sofa close to Jade's chair.

„Nah, just thinking." She answered but didn't move.

„is that about the howler from mom?" Fred wanted to now.

„No...maybe...a little." Jade said and wiped her nose to the sleeve of the sweatshirt she was wearing.

„That's enough sulking!" exclaimed George.

„I'm sure mom's forgotten all about it by now. Don't worry." Said Fred and patted her head as if she was some little child.

„Let's get you out of here, it's too nice outside..." said George, pulling Jade by one hand out of the chair.

„...too nice to worry about stupid things." Concluded Fred and gave Jade the final push which got her out of the chair and she almost landed on the floor.

„Where are we going?" whisper-yelled Jade when boys pulled her through the corridors past professor Flitwick and down to the entrance.

„You need some fresh air." Twins said at the same time, opening the huge door.

Sun was shining down on the remaining patchs of snow which were melting and transforming into deep pools of ice cold water.

Jade wasn't exactly dressed for outdoors. She had her cut off jeans and sweatshirt over her t-shirt. She left her winter shoes inside and only had sneakers on, with knitted wool socks. The air was chilly, but it smelled like spring, and there was something freeing about running through the melting snow in a pair of shorts and sneakers.

Fred pulled out Jade's winter hat from his pocket. She had no idea where he got it from, but there wasn't time for questions.

„Come on!" called George who was good fifty yards in front of them.

Jade run as fast as she could. After winter spent inside or wearing bulky jackets in the snow, she felt light and happy.

They run all the way to the quidditch pitch where Fred stopped by the broomshed and pulled out three old school brooms.

„These are the practice ones." Explained George, handing one to Jade who looked at them in disbelief.

„We use them at practice." Said Fred slowly, as if she didn't understand.

„I know what practice broom is." Said Jade „but I'm not on the team, I shouldn't be here." She was handing back the broom.

„Of course you should. We need to practice and it's not good if it's just the two of us." Argued Fred.

„Plus, you didn't fly for a long time, don't you want to try it again?" smiled George, knowing the answer to his own question very well.

„Wood will be happy we are practicing, McGonagall should be too, Merlin knows we didn't win the school cup in like..." frowned Fred.

„...forever!" finished George and they kicked off the ground.

„Come on, we're not doing anything wrong. First years have flying lessons too right? It's not forbidden for you to fly on school brooms."

Jade knew that flying without teacher present and in free time was probably against the rules, but watching Fred and George fly efortlesly through the fresh sunny air was too tempting to stay on the ground.

She hopped on the broom and was in the air in no time. Her hair was flying over her shoulders and she felt the sun beams lightly kissing her cheeks as she flew straight up to the sky.

Their flying was interrupted by a sudden whistle. Madam Hooch was walking fast across the quidditch pitch and stopped in the middle, looking up at three students who were now hanging froozen in the air.

„Can you explain this?" professor looked at them. „Fred, George, I'm sure you are aware all training sessions which are taking place in this pitch must be approved by a teacher and it is absolutely forbidden to include students who are not part of the team in your practice unless it is a try-out, but I don't see your team captain present." She said sternly and looked at them. Twins had nothing to say, they didn't want to mess up even more by making some funny remark and get detention, or even worse. Wood would kill them if he knew they put the team in danger by flying after permitted hours.

„And you miss Mraz, I am sure you heard me it is forbidden for students to fly without supervision or special permission of your house director." Said Madam Hooch, looking at Jade who was holding the handle of her broom so tightly that her fingers were completely white.

„I'm sorry." She murmured, looking at her tennis shoes, which were wet from the melted snow.

„We are sorry ma'am." Started George.

„We were just trying to take Jade's mind off of all the school work and detentions we have this week." Added Fred.

„How? By getting her and yourselves in more trouble?" professor interrupted them.

„Maybe you don't realize this but flying is a very dangerous activity which can be only practised after long hours of training and adequate experience. We are responsible for all students' safety and three are not making it easy for us."

Professor have covered her eyes with her hands and let out deep sight.

When she looked at them again, her atitude changed.

„Professor McGonagall would be very pleased to know she has another talented flyer in her house. Gryffindor quidditch team is looking for a seeker, am I right? Maybe we could make an exception and let you practice with the team so you could be ready for the try-outs next year." Smiled madam Hooch.

Jade looked panicked for a while, but before she had a chance to open her mouth and say something, Fred and George explained: „She doesn't compete madam." They said loudly, but politely, which was highly unusual for the two of them.

„What do you mean she doesn't compete?" she turned to Jade: „You like flyind Miss Mraz, don't you?"

„Yes, I do. That's why I don't want to be on a team and have all the fun ruined." Jade said quietly. „I'm sorry professor." She added after seeing how confused madam Hooch looked.

„Well... no one can make you do it if you don't want to... but it's a shame dear." Professor shook her head.

„Alright you three. Off you go, but I don't want to see you flying again, without special permission and supervision. Understood?"

„Yes ma'am." Fred and George nodded at the same time.

Jade nodded too, unable to speak as her heart was racing in a high speed.

If she got another detention, Molly and Arthur would be so disappointed in her. It was already bad as it was.

It was early Saturday morning, breakfast was being served already but there weren't many students yet. Today was the day of the monthly letter they were sopposed to receive from Burrow.

Molly took her time to write individual letters to all her kids and sent them every four weeks on Saturday. It was a tradition and Jade soon learned to look forward to these days, but after the howler on Monday, she was sure there will be no post for her today.

Jade buttered some toast and stood up from the bench. Her roommates were still asleep and suddenly she realized how much time they used to spend together at the beginning of the year but not anymore.

That's what she decided to do. Go spend the day with her friends whom she didn't pay enough attention lately. She wasn't going to stick around and watch all the owls bring mail to everyone else but her.

Jade climbed up the stairs back to her bedroom where girls were just getting up.

„Hi." She said and jumped up on her bed. Maddie stared at her as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

„Jade it's only eight in the morning. What are you doing up this early?" she asked and yawned.

„I couldn't sleep. So, what's the plan for today?" Jade asked, getting up and fixing the blankets on her bed.

„You mean you are actually going to hang out with us and not disappear with your brothers this time?" asked Joyce teasingly, but with a smile on her face.

„Well, ...yeah." nodded Jade, not sure what to say.

„Cool." Smiled Joyce and followed the rest of the girls to the bathroom.

They came back soon, almost ready for breakfast.

„It's a shame you've decided to join us on such a boring day as today." Started Katie as she pulled on her sneakers. „We were just going to catch up on all out homework, so that means library and essays all day."

„I don't mind, really. It's raining outside anyway so..." said Jade looking out of the window.

„Alright then, let's go, I'm starving." Exclaimed Sue from the corridor.

„I've already eaten, let me just clean around here a bit and I'll meet you in the library ok? I can save us one of the good tables close to the windows." Jade excused herself and girls agreed it's a good idea, as library used to get really crowded on rainy week-ends with the mid-term exams approaching.

Jade took all her clothes out of the shelves and folded them nicely before placing them back. She also strightened the sheets on her bed as they were bunched up under the blanket.

Then she grabbed her school bag and run down to the library, taking the longer way to avoid any students who might be coming back from Great Hall with all the letters and packages of candy which owls usually brought.


	63. at the library

**Here's another chapter… I hope you like it.**

**I feel like summer can't come soon enough – witch is weird because I love winter and all the snow we have…but somehow, summer is in my mind all the time so that's why I'm planning to write few more chapters about Hogwarts and then we can look forward to summer holiday! **

**I hope you like this chapter, nothing much happens here but I have more action planned and some more family bonding sweetness :) **

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade sat down on a chair close to the library window. Silver light was shining through the wet glass and rain drops were heavily drumming on the window sill.<p>

She took out her essays and spread the parchments on the table to take as much place as she could.

Breakfast wasn't over yet, but there were already students coming in and Jade wanted to save the places for her roommates.

She took off her sweater and hang it on her chair, then stood up, putting her bag on the opposite chair. The table really looked occupied and Jade hoped no one was going to take the free chairs while she was gone.

She wandered through the corridors among the many bookshelves, occasionally stopping to pull out a book and read the summary on the back.

She still had one potion essay to finish, but it was almost done and she just had to write down the conclusion at the end.

Jade pulled out a newly looking book which caught her eye.

It had bright blue spine with title printed in bold black letters.

_The Place of Werewolves in modern society. _

Jade hesitated. It looked like the book was brand new, or at least no one opened it yet as the spine wasn't broken. She took it in her hands and marched down the central aisle to the desk of the librarian.

"Excuse me ma'am. May I borrow this book? It looks new as if no one read it yet and I was wondering if it's…" started Jade but the librarian pulled the book from her hands and looked at it through her glasses pulled down on her nose.

"Are you looking for a book for your homework? I would recommend the traditional textbook which you use with your professor during lessons… not many people agree with the ideas expressed in this book, you might want to look for a different one. I can help you find some additional literature if your textbook isn't enough." Said Madam Pince and walked out from behind the counter.

"It's not for school essay ma'am. I just wanted to read it." Said Jade quietly.

"Oh my, but you don't look like third year student, am I right dear?" asked the librarian looking at Jade standing there in her old jean overalls.

"I'm sure you didn't study werewolves yet."

"No, we didn't. I just read about them in an old textbook my brothers borrowed me and I wanted to read about the subject a little bit more, that's all." Said Jade seriously.

Her roommates walked into the library and stopped by Jade's side.

"We have the table at the back close to the window, my things are all around it, I'll be right there." Said Jade and looked back at Madam Pince.

"So, may I borrow the book and read it please?" she said politely, stretching out her hands to get back the small blue book.

"I'm not sure that young easily influenced minds like yours should read these books without supervision. There are many harsh and revolutional ideas which you might not completely understand dear." Answered librarian and walked back to her desk.

"Well, if I got a permission from a teacher?" asked Jade.

"I'm not sure dear." Madam Pince shook her head. "Why don't you go and choose some different and…more pleasant book to read?"

"And if I got a permission from the headmaster?" Jade wouldn't give up.

"Well, let's not bother headmaster with such silly ideas alright? Just go and choose a book for your age, this one is meant for adults darling." Said librarian sweetly but seriously and Jade knew it was the end of the conversation.

"Excuse me then, I'll be right back." Said Jade and walked out of the library.

She run through the corridors in the direction of headmaster's office, but just as she was turning to the left, professor McGonagall blocked her way.

"No running inside." Scolded professor, looking at Jade strictly.

"Yes professor, sorry professor." Apologized Jade, trying to catch her breath.

"I hope you're not in a hurry because of some mischief. You were in enough trouble for the fireworks." Said McGonagall.

"No…I was…ehm… is professor Dumbledore in his office ma'am?" Jade asked, looking at the gargoyle which was guarding the entrance.

"Yes he is, but he has very important work to finish this week-end so you can not bother him right now. Is there something you need?"

"Well, there's one book in the library and madam Pince said I can not read it unless I have permission …" started Jade but professor cut her off:

"I'm sure it can wait for later and unless it's a book from forbidden section which are not available for students of the first year anyways, I don't see why you couldn't read the book without permission from professors."

"It's a book about werewolves and apparently it has some 'revolutionary' ideas in it." Explained Jade.

"Well, we can discuss this later, but now you should concentrate on your studies, the exams are approaching and there will be enough time for reading extra books later." Said McGonagall and with a little nod she left Jade standing in the middle of the corridor.

"Agrh, I'm never going to finish all the essays." Complained Sue, massaging her wrist, after finishing a particularly long paragraph on Magical uses of lavender.

"How come you have already done all the homework?" asked Maggie, looking at Jade who was sitting by the window, browsing through the DADA textbook, revising for the exams.

"Well, I finished most of them during detention with McGonagall, she sometimes gives us lines to write and I finished quickly, hoping she'll let me go sooner, but she just told me to work on ma homework. I didn't feel my arm after that night." Remembered Jade, wincing at the memory.

They didn't go to lunch, because girls didn't finished their homework yet and they were starting to panic, so Jade stayed there and helped to look through the books, finding appropriate articles.

It was dark outside and dinner was almost over when they run down to the Great Hall to get dinner – all of them starving after whole day spent among the dusty books.

"We can finish the rest of the work tomorrow, I'd say we had enough for today." Yawned Jade, eating the last fork of mashed potatoes and gravy.

"Yeah, we'll have enough time before lunch, and it looks like it's going to rain again." Complained Sue, looking at the ceiling which was filled with heavy rain clouds.

"I should go up to McGonagall's office. Last night of detention. Yay!" cheered Jade with mock enthusiasm as they walked up the staircase.

"Alright, see you later." Girls mumbled and kept walking in the direction of the common room, tired from all the studying and dinner.

Jade knocked on the office door and slipped inside as McGonagall told her to come in.

Fred and George were already sitting at the desks, writing essays, their noses buried in books.

"Sorry, I'm late professor, but I …didn't realize it was so late." Apologized Jade and walked to stand in front of professor's desk to see what they were doing tonight at detention.

"I don't have anything special for you tonight, just work on your essay from transfiguration. I know it's almost mid-term exams period, so I thought I'd give you some time to catch up on your school work." Said professor simply, without even looking up from the tests she was correcting.

"Ahm, I've already finished the essay professor." Said Jade quietly.

"Is that so? In that case, may I see it, Miss Mraz?" asked McGonagall, finally looking at Jade, who searched through all the compartments of her school bag and pulled out neatly folded parchment.

"Alright then, you may work on your other homework." Said McGonagall, putting Jade's essay in an empty basket designed for mid-term essays which students would turn in during next week.

"Well, I finished all the essays today, we had a studying day with my roommates professor." Explained Jade, checking the imaginary list of essays in her head, making sure there ś nothing she forgot.

"Very well then, why don't you just sit down and study for the tests." Suggested McGonagall, watching Jade with a slightly surprised expression, as the girl sat down at one of the empty desks and pulled out her textbook from Potions.

"Jade! Wait!" called Fred and George at the same time, chasing after their sister as she was leaving from the office. She finished reading half of the chapters which she was supposed to know for potions and her head started to fall on the desk when professor McGonagall told her she's excused for the rest of the night.

Jade turned around and was surprised to see Fred pulling out a small brown envelope from his school bag.

"What is it?" she asked, rising her eyebrows when Fred handed her the small square of paper.

"Your letter from home of course." Explained George confused.

"It's been four weeks since the last one, don't you remember?" asked Fred looking confused as well. Jade was usually really excited on the mornings when they knew there'll be a letter coming from home.

"No, I just… I thought after the howler on Monday…" she started.

"Jade…" Fred sighed shaking his head, looking really sad.

George stood there, not knowing what to do, and then he pulled Jade down to sit on the stairs.

"That's really not how it works." He tried.

"Mom could be much angrier than this, and she would still find her time to write us." Continued Fred.

"She I missing us every single day Jade. All of us. And our pranks or detentions are not going to change that." Said Fred, placing an arm around Jade's shoulders shaking her lightly.

"She would still want us home, even if we decided to ditch school and join one of those muggle circus things…" smiled George, nudging her shoulder from his side.

"But what if they'll regret taking me in, what if they think it's not worth all the trouble?" whispered Jade, surprising herself. She had no idea where that came from.

None of the boys knew what to say to this.

"Jade,…" started Fred.

"Jade, they love us. We were nothing but trouble from the day we were born – mom often says so. And dad always agrees with her and then says that's why they love us so much. Because that's who we are and they wouldn't want us to be any other way.

Do you think they regret the decision of having another kid after Percy?"

"Of course they don't. We are fabulous, and at least they had some fun with us, after having a boring Perce for a baby." Added George after a while when Jade didn't say anything.

"And if you don't want to get in trouble, you don't have to do all the pranks with us." Said Fred, looking at the tiles on the floor.

"But I want to! I like spending time with you guys!" exclaimed Jade, panicking that they'll exclude her from their little group of mischief makers.

"Well, then it's set. No more worrying, just fun and building up reputation of epic pranksters." Announced George standing up.

Jade smiled, took the letter and they headed up to the common room as it was getting pretty late.

It was two weeks later, after the last mid-term exam.

The days before examination were filled with last-time studying, but Jade with the twins managed to sneak in a couple of minor pranks, fourth of which crossed the line in McGonagall's mind and she wrote another letter to Molly and Arthur. This time however, it didn't bother Jade – at least not as much as last time.

Exams passed quickly. One moment they were sitting down to take the first test and in a blink of an eye everything was over and they put down the quills after the History of Magic quiz which was the last one before Easter holidays (and Jade was 99% sure she didn't pass it).


	64. even more trouble

**EEK – thanks for the guest review who reminded me how bad my grammar is.**

**I need to apologize again. Sorry guys. **

**I could use a lesson (or two), I know, but my last English lesson was long time ago and apparently just "spitting" a chapter on "paper" without re-reading it to check my grammar doesn't work, but I don't always have time for proof-reading. **

**So I apologize for my grammar…English is still not my first language (poor excuse, I know) – and it never will be, but I'll try harder… I hope my bad grammar doesn't bother you too much and you'll keep reading. If it gets too bad, let me know…**

**Thanks to ****Cookie05**** for commenting**

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><p>The Easter break was almost over and with only four more days left, Jade found herself roaming around the fields with her roommates, enjoying the fresh air and new spring grass while it lasted.<p>

Soon enough they'll be in classrooms, copying notes and writing essays again.

They were walking back to the castle for dinner when Jade spotted George with Fred as they were digging up some plant growing close to the greenhouses.

She hesitated a little. Some weeks ago she promised herself that she'd spend more time with her friends, and she genuinely tried, but twins were up to something and she never passed an opportunity to help with pranks. They managed to get in trouble during Easter vacation – twice, which resulted to another letter to parents. George said it's nowhere close to the number of letters McGonagall sent last year, and that made Jade feel a little bit better and less guilty, when she was sitting in detention one more time.

Fred actually invited her to spend a day with them – hunting for yet another secret ingredient for their inventions but she promised to go some other time.

Joyce looked at her when she hesitated and followed her gaze to the greenhouse.

"See you later." She smiled and kept going after girls who slowed down a bit.

"What? No, no I told you we'll have a girls'day out today." Jade protested and hurried to catch up with them.

"And that we had. Off you go now, and cause some more mischief, you three have been incredibly quiet lately." Chuckled Maddie.

"When was the last time you were in detention? I can't remember. Three, four days ago?" added Sue teasingly.

"We'll see you tonight. Have fun!" smiled Katie and pulled Sue in the direction of castle.

"Alright guys, thanks. See you at dinner." Called Jade after her roommates and then sneaked up on the twins.

"BAM!" she exclaimed, pulling George down to the ground as she jumped out of the bushes.

"That was not even close to surprising us." Commented Fred, still digging in the soil.

"You need to practice your undercover skills dear sister. We can not risk lousy sneaking like this." George shook his head and brushed off the dirt, shaking his head seriously at Jade.

"Whatever. What are you boys up to?" she asked, looking at the root of the plant which was exposed now from one side.

"Looking for some strong licorice root to cover the bad taste of our newest invention. It needs a lot of work, but it's so disgusting that we can't try it on ourselves more than once every day." Shuddered George, remembering the foul taste of the new candy they decided to develop.

"It slows us down and that's bad. We'd like to have it finished before next year starts." Said Fred still digging up the plant.

"Madam Sprout says that the strongest licorice roots grow by the small lake in the forbidden forest." Commented Jade, remembering a piece of seemingly useless information she picked up during one of the lessons. It was always stuff like this that she remembered, but things which would actually appear on the exams would never stay in her head.

"That's what we need!" Exclaimed George.

"Tonight." Nodded Fred.

"You can't be serious! We got into so much trouble lately, remember how your mom sent us that letter with warning! If we mess up there will be no flying this summer!" Jade quoted the letter and looked at them with absolute fear in her face.

"Well, no one's saying you have to go with us…" started Fred.

"Oh please, as if you could do anything properly without me." Teased Jade and punched his arm.

"Alright, so it's set. Tonight, let's say midnight?" suggested George, as if they were discussing an afternoon tea, instead of illegal and potentially dangerous trip to the forest at night.

"Don't worry Jade, we know the forest, and full moon was two days ago, there's nothing to worry about." Fred winked at her. They said good bye for now and agreed that it will be less suspicious if no one sees them together for the rest of the day.

It was quarter to midnight and Jade was sitting in an armchair in the corner of the common room.

She wished good night to her roommates good hour ago. Maddie shook her head but smiled and Joyce told her to be safe, but they didn't protest, knowing that there's always some fun after the three mischief-makers plot something together.

Exactly as the clock chimed for the twelfth time, Fred and George appeared on the staircase, wearing their sweaters from Christmas.

"Jade, it's cold outside, you should bring a sweater too." Whispered Fred, kneeling on the ground and tying his sneakers.

The air was almost sparkling with electricity of excitement, when Jade came back downstairs, pulling the grey Christmas sweater over her head.

George checked the map and quickly told them how they'll run down to the main entrance, avoiding Filch and Snape who was walking through the corridors of the second floor.

They walked silently, following each other with Jade in the middle.

Fred and George carried their empty school bags, like always when they were on a mission.

They sneaked out , closing the heavy wooden door without making any noise.

The grounds were dark, with only a few freckles of yellow, glowing on the grass, from those few windows which still had lights on.

Jade have never seen the castle this dark.

"Let's go." Whispered Fred and pulled her down the hill.

They got close to the forest border and kept walking until George turned to the left and disappeared in the darkness of the forest.

There was a small path on the ground which Jade didn't notice at first.

The further they went, the darker and gloomier the forest appeared, with huge trees covered in moss and dead branches covering the ground.

After ten minutes of walk, they found a small lake, with rocky beach on one side, completely surrounded by the forest.

The water was ink black and didn't reflect any stars, as the sky was covered with clouds.

They found the patch of wild licorice growing close to the water and the smell was lingering over the lake, making the air heavy with sweetness.

"This is exactly what we needed!" exclaimed George, pulling out first root, which was still covered in rocky mud.

"You are a genius Jade!"

They worked quickly, only needing few roots for their experiments.

"We can always come back for more, if we need them." Concluded Fred and closed his bag.

"We should go back, before someone finds us here." Whispered Jade, looking around the lake.

The forest was quiet and wind which was blowing all day finally stopped too.

And suddenly it was too quiet for the silence to be comfortable.

"Yeah." Nodded George, looking around as well.

"Let's get back inside." Agreed Fred, heading towards the hidden path.

They didn't get far however, when a cracking of branches on their right side, interrupted the uncomfortable silence.

Jade grabbed Fred's arm and pulled him closer to her side.

"What was th…" she whispered, but Fred quickly covered her mouth with his hand, which smelled strongly after licorice roots.

The air stood still and for a few seconds nothing moved. Jade let out the breath she was holding and almost smiled – getting scared after hearing breaking of a branch in a forest is pretty stupid, she thought.

Fred and George were standing there, frozen in place, still looking into the darkness. They knew the sounds of forbidden forest. The usual whispers of tree spirits, rattling of snakes hiding under the rocks and drumming noise of centaurs running in the distance.

But this sound was not one from the forest, or at least not a sound they have heard before.

"Run." Whispered Fred and pushed her in the general direction of castle.

Cold sweat was running down Jade's back when she heard him talk like that.

All the mischief and optimistic attitude was gone from his voice.

And they run, crushing through the bushes and fern, their sneakers leaving deep imprints in soft forest soil. George run in front, leading the way, followed by Fred who was breathing heavily. He threw away the bag he was carrying.

Fred heard Jade, running closely behind him, the trouble was, he heard something else following them too.

Impossibly quick steps of feet moving through the forest too silently to be human.

George yelled at them "Come on!" , and Fred turned his head to look at Jade and tell her to run faster, when he saw it.

Six feet tall black spider was right behind Jade who was running as fast as she could, but her foot got caught in a loop of wild raspberry plant and she stumbled.

Fred without thinking jumped back, pulling Jade's foot out of the trap, but it was too late.

The spider, with one quick jump, got close enough and Fred saw his long fangs, glittering in the darkness.

He pulled Jade under him, shielding her from the spider, which sank its teeth to Fred's side as if the boy was made out of butter.

That's all he remembered. Excruciating pain in his left hip, someone screaming, then darkness and how the forest ground disappeared beneath his feet.

What happened next was a blur. George used some cutting spell, which left the spider without one of its legs. The cut off limb fell on the ground with loud thud.

Jade climbed from under Fred's body and tried petrificus totalus on the spider. It didn't work completely but it slowed down the beast and somehow she and George managed to pull Fred to the side of the forest, where the lost path reappeared.

They dragged their brother through the tall grass all the way to the castle.

Professor Dumbledore appeared on top of the stairs as they entered the castle. Hearing Jade's scream echoing from the forest couple of minutes ago, he was rushing down to see what happened.

He was telling them something, or rather asking a question as he seemed to be waiting for answer, but Jade didn't hear him. All she knew was that there was Fred. His dead weight, pulling painfully on her arms as she was still supporting his body.

George might have answered headmaster's question, she wasn't sure.

Jade sunk down to the floor with Fred half pulled in her lap. She noticed a large gap of bloody flesh on his hip, and she was battling the urge to throw up.

Someone was pulling her up. Two strong arms grabbed her shoulders.

Fred was put up on a stretcher which Dumbledore conjured. Madam Pomfrey was leaning over him and whispering some incantations. George was standing by her side, blankly looking at his unconscious brother.

It was only when he looked up and his eyes met Jade's, when she saw the terror in his face, and suddenly something clicked and she heard Dumbledore telling directions to someone. His voice was calm but strict. Everything was too noisy to be real. Professor McGonagall was talking to some healers who apparently came from St. Mungo's, George started to shake and muffled sobs were coming from him, as he still stood frozen on the place.

The healers strapped Fred to the stretcher with bright red straps and as Dumbledore waved his wand over them, they apparated away.

There was more chaos now, McGonagall's strong hand was slightly trembling on Jade's shoulder as she guided her up the staircase, while Madam Pomfrey run up to the hospital wing, to get more potions ready in case they didn't have the right antidote ready in St. Mungo's.

Dumbledore guided George up the stairs, following McGonagall to her office where she grabbed a handful of floo powder and disappeared in the flames together with Jade. They entered the brightly lit waiting room and professor pushed Jade down on one of the chairs.

Dumbledore soon appeared accompanied with George who was openly crying now, his face all wet from the tears, which were forming dark stain on his sweater.

Dumbledore said something to professor McGonagall who nodded and looked down on the two children sitting on the chairs.

Headmaster left, as he couldn't leave the school for too long plus he had to contact the Weasleys.

Jade felt terrible. The whole night was one big catastrophe. Fred was somewhere unconscious, George was sitting next to her, crying, his face covered with his hands.

Jade felt so useless and scared, with McGonagall still standing by the counter, filling forms and documents.

She pulled her legs up on the plastic chair, hugging her knees and she started to cry too.

How could things go so terribly wrong? This morning everything was perfect and they were enjoying one of the last days of the Easter break and now… it was all her fault. If she didn't suggest the lake, or if she didn't trip and fall down in the forest, if she didn't come to the Weasleys at all…

After less than a minute, green flames appeared in one of the fireplaces and angry looking Molly followed by green-faced Arthur who looked good ten years older run across the room stopping by the counter.


	65. news from the healer

**Agrh, I don't have internet again – no idea when I'll post this chapter, but thanks for commenting and adding my story to your favorites and following the story. You're amazing guys, and it makes me happy every time I see a review in my mail.**

**I hope you'll like this chapter too.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p><em>After less than a minute, green flames appeared in one of the fireplaces and angry looking Molly followed by green-faced Arthur who looked good ten years older run across the room stopping by the counter.<em>

Heated discussion with the lady at the counter and then healer who came back looking for the family of Fred followed.

Molly was partly sobbing as she leaned closer to the young healer, grabbing him by the collar of his white robes.

"How is my baby? Is he going to be alright? I need to see him." She exclaimed, leaving no place for discussion.

"He is stable for now, we are still waiting for the antidote to kick in." explained the healer Robbins and turned to look at Arthur. "You can both go inside, but only for a while, because we're still in the process of healing the wound and it's complicated. You may go inside one at a time."

"You go first Molly, I'll get the kids and we'll wait in front of Fred's room." Arthur squeezed Molly's shoulder and watched as she almost run across the hospital corridor.

George was still crying as he looked up at his dad with fear in his eyes.

Arthur kneeled down on the floor, holding George's hands in his own and looked deep into the boy's eyes.

"Fred will be alright, understood?" he whispered and gently shook his son, trying to make him understand.

"But you don't know that!" yelled George and started to cry again, catching attention of other waiting patients, who looked at the family with curious stares.

"Let's go wait in front of Fred's room." Said Arthur firmly, looking around the waiting room at all the prying eyes.

They'll need more privacy soon if some bad news… but he shook off that thought and grabbed Jade's hand, pulling her gently from the chair, while he pushed George in the direction of large glass door.

Arthur sat down on a blue plastic chair in front of a room with polished silver plate saying it's a room for treatment of dangerous bites.

George climbed on Arthur's knees and cuddled close to his dad's shoulder, finding comfort in the strong hands which held him together.

Jade sat next to them, again pulling her feet up and hugging her knees.

"It will be alright, don't worry." Repeated Arthur, more to himself than his kids.

Molly came out of the room, with red puffy eyes, talking to a healer who was leaving to get more of the antidote, because the venom infecting the wound was still keeping it from healing properly.

Arthur gently slid George down from his lap and seated him on the chair.

He opened the door to the room, closing it immediately. George and Jade didn't need to see this.

Fred was lying on a white hospital bed in the middle of the room. The curtains around his bed were still pulled away and a medi-witch was still standing by his side, labeling the vials filled with potions which were on a table close to Fred's head and constantly checking his heart-beat and respiration.

Fred was pale, propped by hard white pillows, so he was lying on his side with the injured hip, shining with blood and potions high in the air.

Someone dressed him in hospital gown, the grayish fabric almost identical shade of Fred's skin, was hanging loose from his shoulders.

Red hair, combed out of his eyes ( this had to be Molly's work), wet with perspiration in deep contrast with the whiteness of his cheeks and pale purple eyelids.

Arthur let himself fall down on the chair which was standing by the side of Fred's bed.

He could do nothing, just wait.

Right now he wished there was something, anything which would allow him to exchange place with his son and leave him almost dead lying on the hospital bed, and Fred would be healthy and happy again, running around the room, finding an opportunity for mischief.

"I'll have to ask you to leave the room for a while." Said the healer, gently touching Arthur's shoulder.

It was time for another round of potions, which could only mean Arthur was sitting there for more than an hour already. He didn't realize how the time flew by.

Arthur kissed his unconscious son and realized how strange it feels to see Fred without George. He was used to see the two of them together, all the time, every minute of the day.

He walked out of the room and found Molly furious, yelling at Jade and George who were still sitting on the chairs side by side, looking on the verge of tears.

"What were you thinking?! I don't believe someone could be this stupid! You could have died! All of you! Do you even think about what you do? Did you ever try to stop and say to yourselves how crazy that is? Wandering around the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night!" yelled Molly, tears in her own eyes.

"Molly that's enough." Said Arthur calmly and tried to hug her but she shook off his arms.

She just looked at him with furious stare and started to pace up and down the corridor.

It was some time after lunch when the healer finally came out of the room and smiled at Molly who run to his side.

"We were able to stop the bleeding and almost all of the venom is out of his system. We will just wait for the rest of the poisonous substances to decompose naturally. You may go inside for a while now, but let him rest. We are expecting him to wake up some time tonight or tomorrow morning."

Molly run inside the room and didn't come out until she made sure her baby boy was all well and comfortable.

Arthur want inside too, taking George and Jade with him when Molly came out, looking much better.

The room was quiet, curtains around Fred's room were closed so they didn't see him from the door.

George run instantly to his brother's side and pulled away the curtains, revealing Fred, still lying in the same position, but looking much more like sleeping instead of dying.

George started to talk to him and he was laughing with relief, although his voice was still a little bit shaky from the shock.

Jade was frozen in place, leaning against the wall by the door.

She was pressing her back against the cold white tiles and looked positively sick.

There was Fred, motionless on a sterile hospital bed. All because of her.

Arthur looked back at her and waved his hand, beckoning her to come closer.

She shuffled across the room, stopping by Arthur.

Jade wasn't sure what she's supposed to do?

Fred was still asleep, but once he woke up he'll realize it was all her fault and then the equilibrium of their relationship will be ruined for good and they'll want nothing to do with her.

But as she stood there, she couldn't help herself, and reached out with her trembling hand, gently touching Fred's arm.

He was alive, and that's all that matters.

They walked out of the room, leaving Fred behind with a healer by his side.

Molly was standing by the door, waiting for any updates, but there was no change in the state of their son so instead of saying something, Arthur just let go of George's hand and hugged his wife.

"I'll take the kids home, they didn't sleep at all last night, and it's already afternoon." Whispered Arthur as he kissed Molly's hair.

"Alright, I'll stay here with Fred." Said Molly quietly. She wasn't leaving the side of her son. Of course her other kids still needed her, Ron and Ginny were probably freaking out by now, and she told Lovegoods that they'll be only gone for one night, it was probably time to pick them up, but right now, Fred needed her the most and so she was staying with him.

"Ron and Ginny…" she wanted to remind Arthur but he stopped her with another soft kiss and reassuring hug.

"I know. Don't worry." He said before turning around and dragging Jade and George with him. They were too tired to protest.

Sun was low above the horizon, coloring the sky in shades of orange and purple, casting shadows on the ceiling of Jade's room, as she was sitting on her bed, wearing flannel PJ pants and old Fred's tee blue and white with stars. She wanted to feel close to him.

Ron and Ginny were still in the kitchen as it was early and they slept the last night, so Arthur let them stay up.

He was explaining what was happening with Fred and repeated "He will be fine" many times during that conversation.

George was already asleep in master's bedroom. He didn't want to sleep in his room where Fred's empty bed would keep reminding him they are separated, so dad let him to the parent's room. The heavy comforter which had a lingering scent of mom on it, made the boy feel safe and it lulled him to sleep.

Arthur came upstairs to check on Jade and George and he found her sitting on her bed, eyes wide open.

It was true that Jade was used to staying up for long periods of time as she often skipped sleep, to avoid nightmares, but now she was exhausted. The only reason why she didn't fall asleep yet, was all the adrenalin pumping through her veins and the awful feeling of guilt which settled in her chest.

"Go to sleep Jade, we'll go check on Fred in the morning, and I'm sure mom will let us know if he wakes up earlier." Said Arthur, adjusting the covers around Jade.

"I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, I shouldn't have… I know you're angry with me and I'm so sorry, and I promise to never do anything reckless again, just…" Jade blared out, choking on the new wave of tears.

"Honey calm down. Of course it's not your fault and no one's angry with you." Said Arthur firmly, looking into Jade's eyes.

"It is! Of course it is my fault!" sobbed Jade, dreading the moment when Arthur will finally realize she was right. "I told them about the licorice plants in the forest, if I didn't…" she cried.

"Jade, Fred and George would get in trouble before you even came to this family. They would do stupid dangerous things all the time, even before Hogwarts. How do you think Molly learned all the healing spells?" chuckled Arthur. "No one would ever blame you for what happened. The only thing which makes me angry is that you went with them and got yourself in a very dangerous situation. I'm used to seeing boys do silly things but I guess I just wasn't prepared to see you with them." He stayed silent for a while.

"Jade, I just want you all to be safe, and I'm glad you are all ok, but please…" he held her hands " please next time, think before you do something and put yourself in a dangerous situation."

"I'll never do it again, I …" started Jade, tears still running down her face.

"No, I'm sure you will. Having Fred and George for brothers and being accepted by them in their little gang of mischief makers, I'm sure you'll find yourself doing something silly sooner than you could say quidditch, just promise you'll try to be safe."

"I promise." Jade blushed and looked down on the crocheted blanket.

"Now go to sleep. Tomorrow will be brighter day." Arthur kissed her forehead and left, leaving the door open just a crack.

It felt odd to be back home in the middle of semester. The light was silver now, and her ceiling changed to beautiful ink blue.

Jade snuggled under the covers, hiding her face in the pillow. And there it was again, the same mustard yellow pillowcase with patch in the middle. She remembered it was there the first time she came to the Burrow.

And with that strange feeling, mixture of guilt and happiness from knowing Fred will be ok, Jade fell asleep.


	66. back to school

**I know it took me forever to update…I don't really like this chapter – writer's block or something… thanks for being patient with me :)**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade woke up in the middle of the night, hearing voices coming from downstairs.<p>

She tiptoed out of her room, her bare feet making no noise on the wooden floors. There was yellow light shining through the cracks of the stairs.

She slowly made her way down, stopping in the last corner, where the stairs were turning ninety degrees and leading straight to the kitchen.

"…he woke up for a few minutes and first thing he wanted to know was if George and Jade were alright. He was so brave Arthur, they gave him another dose of the potions and an ointment for the bite and it had to hurt him so much, he was trying not to cry but Arthur…" Molly's voice was shaking "He's such a brave boy."

There was a silence and Jade was sure Arthur was hugging Molly. Weasleys were such generous huggers, it made her smile just thinking about all the bear hugs she got since moving in with them.

"They gave him a sleeping potion to calm him down" Molly continued after a while "He'll be asleep until late morning so I thought I'll come home and check how you're doing."

"Everyone's fine honey, don't worry, I've put them to bed and everything's been quiet since then." Said Arthur and Jade could hear the smile in his voice, and just then, as she was standing on the cold wooden floor, admiring all the love which was literally radiating from the kitchen Jade sneezed. It was so sudden that she had no time to hide it.

Molly's face appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Jade.

Jade wasn't sure what to do, she didn't talk to Molly since the incident and she was sure Molly's still angry with her.

But Molly could never be angry for too long, and she was more scared than angry anyway.

"What are you doing up Jade?" She smiled and walked up to her, putting an arm around Jade's shoulder. They both walked back to Jade's bedroom and Molly tucked her in, smoothing the covers.

"I'm sorry…" started Jade and tears started to form in her eyes. She needed to apologize and she needed Molly to forgive her and tell her everything will be fine again.

"Aww honey, I know you didn't want to put yourself in danger, but it happened, and we can do nothing about it now. Everyone's alright so don't worry about it." Molly kissed Jade's forehead and then wiped a couple of stray tears from her own cheeks.

She knew how lucky the three mischief makers were that night. And she also realized it could have been much worse, and so Molly was thankful for the outcome, even though Fred was still in hospital.

"There will be consequences for all three of you of course." She said strictly, looking at Jade with straight face.

"You can all expect at least a week of extra chores this summer." She announced and got up from bed.

"Go to sleep sweetheart, you'll see Fred in the morning and he'll be absolutely fine soon…. I love you so much Jade, we all do. You know that right?" asked Molly standing by the door.

"I know, and I'm really sorry…" started Jade, but Molly shook her head smiling. "Just go back to sleep."

"I love you too." Whispered Jade when Molly's footsteps disappeared back down to the kitchen.

Jade woke up just before the dawn. She was having the worst nightmare ever. Fred was dead. At first she saw him lying on the forest floor, pale face and open eyes, which no longer saw the world. But soon the scene changed and they were standing in the corridor of Hogwards. Nothing made sense. Fred looked older, he was adult now, but Jade knew for sure that it was him, dead again. And George was there too, crying, just as he did in the hospital earlier yesterday, but this time he had a face filled with despair and terror as he hugged Fred's body close to his heart.

Jade couldn't look at them, she wanted to turn around and run away, but she couldn't move in the dream.

When she finally woke up, she wished her old nightmares were back. She no longer minded if Weasleys didn't want her in their family – she could handle those nightmares. Now she knew much bigger fear in her life, fear for someone else, and it was stronger than the one she felt for herself.

She climbed out of bed and sneaked into the room of twins.

It was strangely empty. Cold shadows filling the space between two beds. Rag rug which looked grey now, but Jade remembered it was pale blue had one corner flipped over – probably still from Christmas when they were rushing to get back to the train on time. She could almost see George pulling his trunk to the door and ruffling the carpet.

And the rubik's cube which Arthur brought them one day in summer from work was still unresolved on the bedside table.

Jade sneaked to Fred's bed, careful not to make a sound and covered herself with his blanket, breathing in the faint scent, and with a silent promise to herself, that she will never ever let Fred sacrifice himself for her again, she fell asleep.

Arthur woke her up around nine. Sun was already high and Molly left for hospital good two hours ago.

"Jade." He whispered and shook her shoulder gently until she opened her eyes.

"Good morning honey, we'll be going to visit Fred soon. Do you want to get dressed and eat something before we go?"

Jade jumped out of bed. "I don't need breakfast, let's just go there!" she hurried to her room to get dressed for the day.

When she run down the stairs, expecting everyone to be ready by the fireplace she was disappointed to see Ron still in his pajamas and Ginny already dressed but just starting her morning meal.

"There's no need to rush Jade, visiting hours started just a couple of minutes ago and they wouldn't let anyone in before that. Mom's been there since seven so I'm sure Fred has enough company for now."

And true to his words, Arthur didn't rush at all, making everyone eat big breakfast. He knew Molly will probably fuss around Fred all day and as much as he wanted to see his son awake and fine, Arthur knew Molly needed her time alone with Fred.

"Alright, everyone dressed? Shoes on?" Arthur checked holding a jar of floo powder.

"Let's go then, one at a time, and wait for me by the fireplace, no wandering around the waiting room." He instructed as they stepped into the fireplace and flooed to St. Mungo's.

The waiting room was full of patients. And healers were calling their names every few seconds, and despite their effort to work fast, it seemed as if the waiting room was fuller every second.

"We are here to visit Fred Weasley." Yelled Arthur, trying to make himself heard over the noise in the room.

"He was moved to the second floor, recovery room number 215." Said receptionist without looking up, franticly scribbling notes to her parchment.

Arthur opened his mouth to ask for the directions but she interrupted him:" Through the blue door, straight and then to the right. Next please! "

They hurried through the corridors, trying to get out of the way of busy healers and impatient patients.

"Here we are." Smiled Arthur and knocked softly on the door and opened it just a crack, looking inside.

"Come on in." they hear Molly's voice and Jade relaxed visibly, hearing the smile in Molly's response.

They walked in to the room. There were several empty beds, Fred was the only patient there. Molly was standing by his pillow, constantly smoothing back his bangs.

"Hey Fred!" exclaimed George, forgetting all the jokes he had prepared for this moment. He was too happy to see Fred awake. He run to his brother and almost jumped on the bed, but Molly pulled him down, frowning a little, but then she smiled. Her two baby boys were finally together again.

Jade walked to Fred and hugged him too. It was much easier now, when he didn't look as sick as yesterday.

"Hi." She said softly and giggled when Fred hugged her really strong.

"I'm so glad you're ok." He said looking at Jade. "and you too," he turned to George. "Do you have your school bag?" asked Fred looking at his brother with that mischievous sparkle back in his eyes.

"No, but I know exactly where it is, I'll get it as soon as we go back to school." Winked George.

Jade couldn't believe it, after all this, they wanted to go back to the forest? She was starting to protest but boys pulled her into another group hug and she didn't say anything – not now when everyone was so happy. She'll talk to them later.

The visit was cut short by the healer coming in to check on Fred, so they said good-bye. Mom told them they will have to go back to school as the lessons were starting tomorrow and they were not going to miss classes on top of all. They were in enough trouble already.

Fred looked sadly at them as the healer rushed everyone except Molly out.

Arthur kissed her on the way out, promising to come back as soon as he got the kids back to school.

Back at the Burrow they gathered in the kitchen, eating ice cream with chocolate sprinkles (Arthur made them promise they won't tell mom).

There wasn't much packing to do as they all came with nothing but a set of clothes, and soon they were all sitting on the porch, enjoying the spring sun, waiting for professor McGonagall who was supposed to come take them back to school. You could only use floo to headmaster's office with special permission or accompanied by one of the professors.

Jade was sitting on the porch swing, next to George, with Ginny leaning back against her knees while Jade braided her hair.

Ron was sulking. He was in bad mood since they came back from hospital, because there were still weeks of school year left and he'd be stuck at home alone with Ginny.

The sound of blasting flames was heard from the kitchen and Arthur got up to greet professor McGonagall.

"Alright, let's go. You have everything you need to take back?" professor asked strictly, checking the watch strapped to the inside pocket of her robes.

Arthur pulled Jade and George into a big hug and Ginny snuggled between Jade and daddy, sobbing. She wasn't excited about them going back either, but she showed it differently than Ron, who was still pouting, but shuffled closer and hugged George.

The flames flashed again, just before professor McGonagall wanted to step into the fireplace, revealing Molly, slightly covered in ashes.

"Oh good, I was worried I will miss your departure darlings." She exclaimed, rushing to her children.

"Now, you two be good, and don't worry, Fred should be back at school in a couple of days. No more mischief and I expect you to work hard and get ready for the final exams. Understood?" she asked, looking down at Jade and George, before pulling them into a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm going to miss you both so much." Molly wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Off you go, no time to waste." Instructed Arthur, putting his arm on Molly's shoulder.

Professor McGonagall took them back to Hogwards. The journey was brief and chaotic. They all landed on the soft carpet in Dumbledore's office but headmaster wasn't there.

"Now, you may go back to your common room, headmaster decided that no further punishment should be administered, because as he said, your parents will make sure you remember not to do anything this foolish again. I however disagree, so to make sure you will remember to keep out of dangerous situations in the future, I take twenty points from Gryffindor. For each of you." Professor McGonagall nodded at them and closed the door to headmaster's office, leaving George and Jade standing at the spiral stairs which were slowly descending down.

"You want to go visit Hagrid?" asked George, seeing how upset Jade was.

And because she really didn't feel like facing her roommates and all the questions right now, she gladly agreed and so instead of climbing the stairs to the common room, they took off for a walk across the grassy fields towards Hagrid's hut.


	67. tale of three siblings

**Just a short chapter today, please be patient with me, it's crazy at school right now.**

**Thank you for reviewing and adding the story to your favorites! **

**I hope you'll like this chapter, I'll be back to the usual story length next time.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p>The first few days of school passed quickly. There were different rumors running around school, whispered during recess, early breakfast and late studies. People asked, students followed George and Jade around, wanting to catch new bit of information about what happened in the forest.<p>

Jade hated the attention. She still felt nauseous when she had to think about that terrible night.

George on the other hand, used the week to build up the atmosphere of expectations and mystery. He promised his friends and anyone who would listen that as soon as Fred gets back, they'll tell the tale of Three siblings (how he called it).

And naturally, everyone was excited. Weasleys twins were masters of telling stories.

But George wasn't himself completely. Jade has met him more than once, sitting silently at the breakfast table, while the rest of the castle was still asleep and it was just two of them, sitting silently at the table.

Fred came back one Saturday night. Professor McGonagall called George and Jade to follow her after dinner and the Great Hall was instantly filled with whispers and excited exclamations. It could mean only one thing. Fred was back.

And he was, indeed. Standing in the middle of McGonagall's office, a little bit paler than normally and with fading blue circles under his eyes, but alive and well enough to get back to mischief making…ahem, I mean studying, of course.

"Mr. Weasley, I told you to sit down, I don't want you fainting in my office. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be pleased and I guess you don't want to spend night in the hospital wing, do you?"

"Now, I want to ask you three to not share any stories about what happened in the forest. As you know, professor Dumbledore already told the rest of the students the official version of the events and I believe there's no need to reveal further details.

Understood?" she asked looking at the three children standing in front of her desk.

"Understood." Nodded George, smiling widely, swinging on his feet, ready to leave.

"Alright." Said McGonagall slowly, not really trusting them to keep the story secret but she couldn't do anything else. "Off you go then, and I expect your homework by next Monday."

They almost run out of the office and the moment the door was closed George jumped on Fred, hugging him around his neck.

"Ouch." Whispered Fred, holding his side with one hand, but hugging his twin back.

"Jade." He waved at her, looking over George's shoulder.

Jade didn't hesitate any longer and she hugged both of her brothers, unexpected tears escaping her eyes.

"We missed you so much!" she sobbed, hiding her face between the twins' shoulders.

"And now I'm back and never leaving again." Fred winked at her and adjusted his sweater which slipped off his shoulder.

"Ready to tell the great tale of three siblings to the public? I'm sure everyone's waiting for us in the common room." Said George, pointing behind him in the direction of Gryffindor tower.

"Why, of course. I expect you've placed orders for snacks?" asked Fred hopefully. "I could use a handful of popcorn, McGonagall wouldn't let me eat dinner – orders of Pomfrey – I just got some jello and soup. I'm starving my dear _great siblings_."

"Popcorn, butter crackers, caramel fudge and gallons of juice dear great brother, are waiting for us, but we'd better hurry because Lee is going to eat everything."

Laughed George and the boys started to run up the stairs with Jade following them.

She was keeping close eye on Fred. He might pretend he's ok, but she noticed how his breath would catch every once in a while.

The common room was warm and welcoming, like always.

One of the sofas was pulled to the front of the room, standing with it's back to the fireplace. Rest of the armchairs and couches ware arranged in half circle with almost everyone from Gryffindor already sitting there, waiting for the twins to show up.

When the portrait swung to the side, revealing the entrance to the common room, loud roar and applause erupted and Fred, George and Jade entered the room, fighting the need to cover their ears. Twins walked right to the front, waving at their friends and nodding their heads at older students who congratulated them.

Jade was about to hide in one of the back rows when Fred grabbed her hand, without hesitating, as if he could read her mind, and pulled her to the sofa.

The cushions were pleasantly warm from the fire and once they sat down, George sitting on the back of the sofa and Fred leaning against his brother's knees, Jade realized it's not as intimidating as it seemed at first.

The room looked almost small, and certainly even more cozy than normally. The faces looking at them weren't just simple gossip seekers. They were friends and fellow Gryffindor. Fred squeezed her hand before letting go and saying out loud.

"Who is ready to hear the tale of Three great siblings and the giant bloodthirsty spider from the Forbidden Forest?"

The audience got crazy, boys clapped and exclaimed and girls squealed. This was more information than they had before. Dumbledore wouldn't tell them anything. He just announced that accident happened in the forest, but he wouldn't tell what.

Now, after hearing about one of the spiders being involved, most of the first years cuddled deeper under the blankets they were hugging.

"The tale of horror and danger, uncertain future and darkest corners of the Forbidden Forest itself." Exclaimed George.

"The story of poisonous fangs of giant beast, tearing chunks of meat from my hip!" yelled Fred, jumping up on his feet lifting the side of his shirt, revealing a huge bandage covering most of his side.

A wave of "Eeew!" and "Awesome!" flew through the common room.

Fred and George looked expectedly at Jade who felt the eyes of entire Gryffindor population on her.

"If you don't think you can handle rivers of blood and moments of terror followed by nerve wrecking uncertainty, leave now!" Exclaimed Jade, finding courage as she watched her friends hang on each and every of her words.

"I warned you, there are things you can not imagine now, but once we tell you, you will never forget." She finished in creepy whisper.

The story telling continued long after bed time. There were moments of silence when only silent sound of nervous first years' whispers could be heard, and suddenly Fred would run his finger nails over the wooden table, pretending it was the sound of spider's legs scratching the forest floor.

There were moments of hysterical exclamations and scared yells when Jade had to shush everyone so they wouldn't wake up McGonagall.

"And that's when they stitched my skin together, just like Muggles do. With needle and all." Finished Fred.

Everyone protested, they wanted to hear more disgusting and scary facts about the accident, they wanted to sit in the common room forever and let themselves be captivated by the story, but George looked at Fred and saw him get a shade paler and he knew it's time for bed.

"Thank you for being such a great audience tonight, we are delighted you liked our story. Don't worry, we won't disappoint you. You may expect at least one more night like this before the year ends. There is more mischief in our agenda." George bowed in front of the students who laughed and started to leave. It was almost three in the morning.

"I'm glad you're back." Said Jade softly when she was left in the common room alone with her brothers.

"Me too." Answered Fred and hugged her gently before he climbed up the stairs with one hand around George's shoulders.

Jade snuggled under the blankets, pressing her face into the pillow. It's been a long day, but she didn't sleep properly since the night of their trip to the forest. She felt exhausted, but knowing Fred was safely back and alright might help her sleep better.

Next day was slow. Most of the Gryffindor students woke up around lunch, and they decided to call it really late breakfast, earning strange stares from the rest of the school when the Gryffindor table lunch included scrambled eggs and porridge, which the students really enjoyed, still half asleep.

"The elves always know how to welcome us back." Smiled Fred, winking at Jade who watched in awe how the twins got two huge bowls of porridge covered in chocolate syrup.

"Good morning." Came ice cold greeting from McGonagall who was standing right behind George. He looked up, smiling at the professor upside-down. "Good morning professor. Did you come for the porridge, or maybe a toast?" asked George innocently.

"We've noticed other tables lack the breakfast selection, but we're willing to share." Fred added, holding a plate of toasts up.

"I'm glad you're back to your old self Mr. Weasley, but I would appreciate it if you could limit your story telling to day hours and not keep all the house up until early morning." She said strictly before her voice softened a bit and she added. "Madam Pomfrey wants to see you after breakfast…I mean, lunch, to change the bandages."

"Thank you professor, I'll go to see her right now. And we apologize for not inviting you to our story telling soirée. Next time we'll be more careful when issuing invitations. Yours will be the first we send…" started Fred but McGonagall interrupted him.

"Don't you worry Mr. Weasley, I heard every word of your story last night. Splendid interpretation of …how did you call it? Tale of Three siblings? Clever, very clever title." She almost smiled, but decided to keep her face and walked away, joining Madam Sprout who was leaving the Great Hall.

"Well…" started Fred awkwardly.

"Good to know that Common room is not a safe place for late night mischief planning then." Finished Jade, laughing at twins' startled expressions.


	68. home again

**I'm so sorry guys, I know it took forever! Thank you for all the reviews! I had this chapter in my head for a long time but it took me forever to find time and type it …it's finally here, just a nice peaceful chapter – a little transition before the summer madness starts.**

**I hope you like it. I'm already starting another one so next update should be here…let's say in a few days.**

**I'm sure we all know that J.K.R. owes everything HP related and we're all here just dreaming about her world – right?**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>Jade was standing at the side of her bed, folding the last school robes. The rest of her uniforms were already packed in her trunk.<p>

The door of their room was open and there was general chaos all around the corridors.

Students were running up and down the stairs returning borrowed books and looking for lost socks and ties.

It was lovely sunny day and wind was bringing the scent of wild flowers inside through the windows. The fact that it was fourth day in a row without a single raindrop was a proof that summer was here.

Sue was writing down addresses of all the girls, so they could keep in touch. She made four copies and handed one to each of her friends.

Tonight was the last dinner of the school year and the train would leave tomorrow first thing after breakfast.

Jade sighed, closed the trunk and jumped on the bed, stretching her back.

"I can't believe the year is over." She said simply.

It was a strange feeling. So much has changed since September. She had a ton of new memories and a handful of photos from the year which she planned to turn into few pages for a scrapbook album.

The frame with the photo from last summer was still standing on the bedside table, she'd leave it there for next year.

"Can you believe it? We'll be in second year soon. It will be nice to come back after summer and know everything around here." Smiled Maddie, putting the last piece of chocolate to her mouth. They finished all the candy from their stash and all that was left was a pile of colorful papers and tinfoil in the middle of the carpet.

"I feel so grown up." Laughed Joyce as she spun around in front of the mirror, her flower skirt swirling.

"What are your plans for summer?" asked Maddie, sitting on the window-seat, turning her face to the sun.

It was a topic which they discussed over and over in the last weeks of school.

Jade knew there are no exciting sea-side family vacations or mountain-climbing for her, but she couldn't wait to be back home.

"I'll kick off my shoes the moment I get home…" she always started with the same sentence.

"You don't wear your shoes half the time here." Giggled Katie.

"… And I'll run to my room and unpack, because mom wants to do the laundry as soon as we get home." Continued Jade. Sometimes, when she was dreaming, she didn't even notice she called Molly mom, or Arthur dad. But it felt natural now.

"We'll pick strawberries. There are miles and miles of strawberries at home. And we'll just sit on the dry warm soil and eat all of them. And we'll make jam. You have to cook the strawberries with sugar and apples in huge pot on the stove. Whole kitchen smells like jam for days and days after. And fresh green peas picked in the morning when there's still dew on the grass and you're still wearing pajamas and apple juice every day. And we'll fly on Saturdays or when dad comes home early from work. We'll have barbeques in the backyard with grilled zucchini and hotdogs until the sun sets down and someone will turn on the Christmas lights." Jade dreamed and as always when she started to talk about her summer, girls just sat back and listened. None of them knew how exactly Jade's home looked, but they could almost feel the warm garden soil under their toes and smell the sweetness of strawberries in the air when she talked.

"We'll sleep outside, there's big pile of hay on one side of the house and Fred and George said we'll make a roof from bed sheets over it and we'll stay there all night."

The dinner was even more chaotic than the day of packing. The results of house cup were announced but no one really seemed to care. Suddenly there were millions of stories to be told before summer starts, and the Great Hall was filled with buzzing of thousand voices, trying to be heard over each other.

Dumbledore had some speech prepared and he started, but ended early with joyful exclamation of wishes for beautiful summer to everyone.

Professor McGonagall looked angry for a while, trying to calm the students down so headmaster could finish "The end of the school year speech" but when Dumbledore himself covered her hand (which was knocking on the crystal glass with butter knife rather hard) with his own hand and smiled at her, she relaxed too and mumbled something about it being almost summer.

Percy held a lecture for Fred and George who were still not packed, and who didn't care. They were surrounded by their classmates, re-telling the most famous stories from this year. Fred had the side of his shirt pulled up again, showing the fading scar to a couple of impressed girls. He winked at Jade when he caught her looking.

They went to bed late and got up early.

Jade made her bed, even though she knew house-elves would come clean the rooms and change the sheets. She wanted to leave the room nice and tidy, ready for next year.

They had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and lemon muffins, which they also packed for the journey.

The atmosphere inside train compartments was packed with excitement. Kids seemed to be even wilder than before Christmas. Now there was whole summer in front of them, and summer always brings a promise of adventures and lazy days.

"We'll have to write each other at least once every week alright?" asked Sue looking around the compartment at her friends.

"We will, don't worry about it." Promised Joyce and stood up to close the window. The morning was nice and sunny but as they were heading south, sky started to darken and there were heavy rain clouds visible on the horizon.

As Hogwarts' express swished quickly through the meadows and overgrown grass bent down under the force of air which was cut by the powerful engine, first drops of summer rain started to fall. Nothing's better than steady continuous rain, cooling down the country after days of sunshine.

"next year we need to add more decorations to our room. We'll be second years, we can't stay behind and let the first years get better room. There is a lot of space for improvement ladies." Said Katie pulling out her notepad and reading through the list of decoration ideas they've put together in preparation for next year.

"Jade you said a pom-pom garland and tassels are your job – right?" Katie made a small note to the side of the paper.

"Joyce you'll bring that Gryffindor banner you said you have home." Katie kept on reading.

"For goblin's sake Katie, relax. Everybody brings as much as they can and we'll have to do with that." Said Maddie leaning against the window which was now covered in raindrops from outside and girls could hardly see anything.

"We're in London!" yelled Sue jumping up from her seat and pressing her face to the window.

The sky was pale grey outside as the sun was setting down and there were still clouds from the rain.

And after few minutes the railway dived into the labyrinth of London streets and they felt the carriage slow down.

"Almost home." Smiled Jade as she got up too and girls started to pack everything back to their trunks.

There were good-byes and last minute conversations echoing through the train as it stopped with squeaking breaks at the King's Cross station.

Jade jumped down from the stairs to the platform and turned around to help her friends with the baggage. She was pulling down the third school trunk when two pairs of hands snatched it and put it effortlessly next to her own suitcase.

Fred and George helped girls with the rest of things and they were all out of the train in no time.

"I'll write you soon! I'm going to miss you!" Jade managed to say as Fred and George pulled her to the place where they were supposed to meet the family.

"Will you stop it already!" complained Jade as boys kept pulling her by her hands through the crowd.

"I have to say good bye to Deric before we go."

"Oh Fred, how could we forget about him!" started George in mock horror.

"Precious boyfriend of our Jade." Continued Fred making kissy face before they both started to laugh.

"Go on then, but hurry up, I'm sure mom's already waiting for us." Said George turning away and pulling both his and Jade's trunk.

"He's not my boyfriend." Snapped Jade angrily at Fred who was still there.

"Well I hope not, we'd have to have a _talk_ with him otherwise." Smirked Fred and left, following his twin.

When Jade finally made her way through the crowd of friends and saw her family waiting for her, she couldn't help herself, and overwhelmed with all the people in her life who loved her and cared for her, she run straight to Molly's arms.

They flooed to Burrow where delicious dinner was waiting in the kitchen, including huge chocolate ice ream cake to celebrate their homecoming.

"No, no, no. Get your things upstairs and wash your hands first. Dinner will be ready in twenty minutes." Scolded Molly and chased twins away from the cake.

Jade climbed the stairs up to her room. It seemed right now. No doubts like at the Christmas break, no near-tragic night scare ruining the atmosphere like over the Easter. Now it was perfect.

The window was open, light wind playing with the curtains. There were fresh sheets on the bed and a bunch of wild flowers in a mason jar on the bedside table (probably Ginny's idea).

Jade let herself fall down on the bed, the cool fresh bed sheets felt perfect against her hot skin. Summer was here.

"Dinner's ready!" exclaimed Ron peering inside Jade's room, allowing a beam of yellow light in from the corridor.

Jade got up, kicking off her shoes and crossing the room to her dresser.

"I'll be right there." She said to Ron who looked impatient.

"Alright, see you at the table" he yelled, running away. Jade could head Percy complaining about twins who chased him out of the bathroom.

She looked inside the dresser and searched through piles of clean laundry for her favorite cut off jeans. She took one of the white vests and a plain flannel shirt. It might be summer, but nights in Devon could get pretty chilly.

Everyone was already in the kitchen. Plates were passed around and Molly was blushing over the compliments of the food she prepared. Jade sat down on her usual place, getting a sip of pumpkin juice. Everything was perfect as she looked around the table, seeing Percy explain something to Ginny, who, as always, had millions of questions about school, Molly and Arthur seemed to be in their own little world as he whispered something to her ear – probably already planning their annual date-escape for the anniversary. Jade smiled and looked the other way, basking in the idyllic atmosphere of family dinner when the fairy-tale was interrupted by Fred and George tickling Ron, who was sitting between them, so hard that when Ron tried to fight them off, he tripped the bench and half of the family disappeared under the table. Drinks got spilled and forks dropped to the floor. After the briefest of moments of complete silence most of the family erupted in laughter, apart from Percy who complained about all the stupid things twins did all the year at school, and Molly who frowned at the boys as she vanished the spilled juice from the tablecloth.

It was almost eleven when Molly chased everyone upstairs to get ready for bed.

"Don't worry Ron, we'll tell you about all the mischief tomorrow." Said Fred.

"We have all day to relax and do nothing apart from eating strawberries from garden, right?" smiled George, ruffling Ron's hair.

"You have unpacking and cleaning to do tomorrow boys. No strawberries until I have all the dirty laundry down in the washing room!" reminded them Molly and then kissed all her kids' foreheads before turning around and walking back to the kitchen, smiling at her husband who was sneaking the last piece of the cake on his plate.

"This feels like Azkaban!" complained Fred. "Child labor!" agreed George but they sprinted up the stairs anyway, probably to get Percy out of the bathroom again, just to annoy him even more.

Jade shook her head at them and wished good night to Ginny who was half-asleep leaning against the wall.

"I'm so happy you're finally home." Ginny said before yawning.

"Me too, we have so much to talk about. I've missed you Ginny." Smiled Jade and hugged her sister.

"Good night." Said Ginny waving her hand as she climbed the stairs up to her room.


	69. fight

Next day was everything but exciting.

Burrow woke up into beautiful sunny Saturday, which would usually mean day full of flying or trip to the village for popsicles.

After quick breakfast however, Molly chased all the kids upstairs to unpack and clean their rooms.

Ginny and Ron complaining had no end. Why should they stay inside and clean when they don't have trunks full of dirty school uniforms and socks.

But Molly wasn't taking no for an answer.

"the sooner you clean your rooms the sooner the summer starts." Was a well known sentence among Weasley children.

And so they spent all morning sorting laundry and trying to put everything away.

Jade had to admit it felt good to push her empty school trunk against the wall at the end of her bed and sit down on the floor to make her way through pile of clothes.

She made three piles – one for whites, one for black school robes and one for colored clothes. It would save a lot of time for Molly and Jade was proud of herself for thinking about it.

She took the clothes down to the kitchen where Fred and George just deposited a rather large mess of mixed school robes on the floor.

Jade put her three groups of neatly separated clothes on the floor and started to dig through the pile twins just left there.

Molly was sitting at the chair, stitching a patch to the knee of Ron's corduroys.

"You don't have to do that honey, I'll sort them later." She smiled at Jade.

"It's quite alright, I'm almost finished with my room and there's still enough time before lunch to get everything done." Replied Jade looking down at one of the white shirts, with rather burned cuff on the left sleeve. It used to make her feel like she was a visitor in the house, not one of the family, when Molly told her she doesn't have to do something, but now she knew it was just Molly's way of saying thank you and how much she appreciated when one of the kids helped with chores without being asked.

After sorting the laundry, Jade climbed up the stairs back to her room. She was brushing off last traces of dust from the bookshelves which were now proudly holding her school books (before she'll pass them to Ron) and a couple of notebooks she made by binding the parchments with notes from the classes.

Jade turned around and was about to walk out of the door – on the way to change the water for her wild flowers, when George blocked her way and with a finger pressed to her lips, indicating she should stay quiet, he pushed her back to her room. Fred followed close behind his brother, checking the corridor before he closed the door.

"We've got a huge favor to ask from you." Whispered Fred, briefly looking down at the brown cardboard box he was carrying.

"We need to hide some of our inventions in your room." Explained George, jumping on Jade's freshly made bed.

"Hey! I just straightened those sheets! Get off!" she frowned and tried to pull him down but ended up falling between the pillows herself.

"Why don't you just hide it in your usual hiding place? I don't want to be responsible for it." She said, looking wearily at the box.

She did enjoy adventures with twins, sneaking around the castle, exploring secret passages was one thing, but facing the anger of Molly if she found out Jade was hiding twins' inventions was a completely different matter.

"We can't. Mom always checks out room and she already discovered most of our hiding places. You're our only hope." Pleaded Fred, making the best imitation of puppy eyes Jade has ever seen.

"Well,… alright, but if she finds it here, I know nothing about it." Jade said after a while. She couldn't say no to Fred when he looked at her that way.

"It's only for a couple of weeks, until she stops being suspicious." Promised George and kissed Jade on the cheek.

"You are the best!" exclaimed Fred and pushed the box into the darkest corner under Jade's bed.

She shook her head as she watched boys carefully straighten the bed skirt made of cotton fabric with yellow and teal pattern* which Molly added while Jade was at school in attempt to make the room more cozy.

They jumped up at the sound of their mother's voice, echoing through the house.

"Ronald Weasley, you put down that cream cracker this instant. Lunch will be ready in five minutes!"

"We'd better go." Said George and pulled Fred out of Jade's room.

Lunch was perfect like always. Molly prepared simple pumpkin-tomato soup with black beans and garlic bread with melted white cheddar on top. They had strawberry scones for desert and freshly made lemonade.

Molly's new record of Dion and The Belmonts was playing in the background and all Weasley children (minus Percy of course) were happily swinging their legs to the rhythm of "I wonder why". (the record was a gift from Arthur, who brought it home one day for Molly. He happened to come across small muggle music shop on his mission from work. He couldn't help but think about his Molly when he spotted an orange cover of vinyl record, with small colorful hearts. And she played it for two whole weeks nonstop, before switching back to the radio, but he still came home sometimes, hearing the record playing and Molly singing along. Those nights were his favorite.

"Your rooms are clean now? All the laundry downstairs? School trunks empty? We don't want any more moldy socks, right boys?" asked Molly looking at the twins with raised eyebrows.

"Excuse me?!" exclaimed Fred, getting up so fast, he almost knocked over his chair, but George caught it and put it back up.

"There has never been such thing as moldy socks in our trunks!" argued George, pretending to be deadly offended.

"Stinky old socks maybe…" admitted Fred.

"…unwashed forgotten underwear, occasionally…" continued George.

"left over crackers, probably…" added Fred.

"But never ever did we get any mold in our trunks. That would be just…" George closed his eyes.

"…downright disgusting." Finished Fred, holding the shoulder of his twin who was theatrically pretending to be fainting at the idea itself.

"alright, alright. You have the afternoon free then. Off you go, out of the way, I have tons of laundry to do." said Molly, trying not to smile at the antics of her boys. Oh how she missed them over the year.

The air was getting hot, and with nothing much to do for the afternoon, kids decided to just hang out under the tree and plan summer.

Ginny pulled out the old picnic blanket they always used outside and Jade fetched some lemonade from the kitchen and they all sat down.

Fred and George got comfortable seats up in the tree, already planning the newest inventions for their collection of pranks, Ron persuaded Percy to play a game of Chess with him and they were currently sitting at the wooden table with heads in their hands, staring at the chessboard.

"So, Ginny, how was the year at home?" asked Jade, sitting down on the blanket which Ginny spread under the tree.

"Boring." Frowned Ginny and sipped lemonade from her bottle. The drinks were cold and drops of water were condensing on the glass.

"Oh, but now you're home and we can do all the fun stuff! We can finally play Quidditch in teams and go on a trip – mom wouldn't let us go alone and dad had had to work a lot these past weeks. But I helped mom clean the attick a little bit and we found a lot of fun things. She said that once you come home, we can take some of them out and do some crafts if we want. I've already put a nice crocheted doily to my room. Mom says her great grandma made it long time ago. Just wait until you see it, we found a lot of stuff for decorating." Babbled Ginny, while Jade laid back, closing her eyes, sun shining on her face.

She missed her sister so much during the school year and it was nice to just sit here and listen to her talk about silly things.

"I have a week of extra chores to do - because of that stunt we pulled at Easter, but once that's out of the way, we can get a week of crafting and re-designing our rooms. That could be fun, right?" asked Jade, opening one eye to look at excited Ginny.

"With plans and sketches and our own design projects?" whispered Ginny, as if she couldn't believe her luck.

"Of course, with plans, and craft projects and our own inventions. We'll find out own color schemes and styles for the rooms, and we'll have the best rooms in all Burrow." Smiled Jade.

They snoozed on and off all afternoon, enjoying free day after hectic last weeks of school, but laziness never lasts long when you have Fred and George around.

"Hey girls, wanna help discover new ingredient for our newest invention?" Asked George, peeking from between the leaves of the tree.

"Another smelly fireworks?" asked Jade without even bothering to open her eyes.

"Is this one even smellier than the last one?" chuckled Ginny.

"Well if you don't want to help, stay here with your pretend-tea party ladies." Said Fred, turning away from the girls and walking in the direction of the pond.

"Hey, who's a lady to you?!" yelled Ginny, getting up and throwing a handful of dry grass in Fred's direction.

"I'm just as good mischief-maker as you are!" she yelled, running after him, bare feet, grass stained shirt and purple skirt.

Jade laughed at her and jumped on George's back as he walked past her. He caught her and without problem carried her, quickly following Fred and Ginny.

Piggy-back rides were a novelty for Jade and she found it delightful that her brothers could carry her around like that. It made her feel free and loved.

George run alongside the path, jumping over mud and fallen branches as he went, with Jade laughing loudly.

He dropped her down without warning as they reached the pond and Jade landed but- first in the mud.

"Hey! That's not fair!" she scolded and got up, wiping her dirty hands into Fred's shirt.

"Mud fight? Seriously? What are we, five?" asked George looking at Jade, pretending to be disappointed in her. But Fred hugged him from behind, plastering a handful of mud on George's cheek.

"Mud fight!" he yelled and run around, followed by Ginny who was holding dirt in both of her hands stretched up, high in the air. Pieces of squishy mud were falling down, landing in her fiery red hair.

"Mud fight! Mud fight!" laughed Jade and grabbed some dirt from the ground. It had grass mixed in and sand from the small beach but no one cared.

Weasley children used to have mud fights regularly when boys were smaller, but to Molly's great joy, they stopped them few years ago.

George was sure that their newly discovered part-time activity won't be received positively by their mom, but he didn't care.

They didn't have this much fun in ages.

After the shooting of mud bombs calmed down, four of them were left, covered in mud and tired from all the laughing. As they looked at each other, they realized what's waiting for them at home, once mom saw them, covered in wet soil from head to toes. None of them felt like going back to the Burrow just yet and so they spent few more hours looking for the secret ingredient for the newest project.

Even Fred and George didn't know what they're inventing yet, but they used to say that inspiration won't come to you, you have to get out and chase it. And so they chased, garden gnomes and fairies, salamanders and grasshoppers around the pond, while sun dried the mud and they were left, covered in dry pieces of dirt which flew off of them with every movement.

And in silent agreement, they walked back home, their bare feet silently stepping on the ground which was quickly cooling down in the sun setting down. The silhouette of home clearly visible against the orange sky.

"We already have week of extra chores because of Easter, mom can't give us more work. It's summer after all." Concluded George as they were nearing the backyard.

"But you know nothing will stop here. One week for Easter, yeah, but she still has plenty of weeks left, to choose from, before we get back to school." Said Fred, absentmindedly scratching the scar on his left hip, which reminded him of the trouble they were already in.

"There isn't enough chores in Burrow to punish us all, if we get one more week of extra cleaning we're going to wear down the whole house and it'll just fall apart from over-cleaning." Laughed Jade and bravely stepped inside, followed by her brothers and Ginny, ready to face Molly's anger. They stopped at the doorway, mud falling off, landing in big chunks on the freshly scrubbed kitchen floor.

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><p>*fabric inspired by Notting Hill collection by Joel Dewberry – fabric called Historic Tile in Canary<p>

**Hey guys! I know it took a little bit longer than I promised but, summer came to Portugal (where I'm studying right now) and so we spend most of the free time outside soaking in the sun after long winter. **

**I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think, I love reading your reviews.**

**Thanks to Aaaaa (guest) , ****Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall, HpDork FreakaZiod, Cookie05 for commenting – and to all of you guys who follow and read my story.**


	70. not a dream

There was a moment of silence when the troop of muddy warriors stopped at the doorway and Molly looked at them from the kitchen table where she was setting down the plates for dinner.

"At least shake off the mud outside. I just cleaned the floor." Said Molly after a little pondering. Kids knew not to fight in the mud, they knew she'll be mad, that's why they were standing there now, waiting what will happen. They looked ridiculous with mud in their hair and puppy-eyes, looking at her.

The thing is, even if you know the rules and you know not to do stuff like mud-fights, sometimes you just can't help yourself.

"I don't have to tell you that this won't happen again this summer, right?" scolded Molly watching her children as they tried their best to scrub down. George was sitting down on the step in front of the back door, giggling uncontrollably while Fred tried to scratch his soles, tickling his twin.

Jade was trying to pull grass out of Ginny's hair, running her fingers gently through her sister's red locks.

The sun was gone, just a tiny liver of purple left at the horizon.

"Get upstairs you lot, and wash your hands before dinner. You'll get cleaned after we eat." Laughed Molly when George pulled off Fred's shirt and started to fling it against the side of the house to get the dry soil out of the fabric.

Jade stopped for the slightest bit of a second and looked Molly straight into the eyes, not knowing what to say. She wanted to apologize and make sure Molly wasn't angry with them, but at the same time, she knew it was just an old habit – to worry about everything too much and question herself.

"Off you go." Smiled Molly and smoothed Jade's hair out of her face.

"Arthur! Boys! Dinner will be ready in five!" Molly called up the stairs to get the rest of the family down.

They had ramp pizza, with melted goat cheese on top. Luna stopped by with her daddy as they were walking home from their little expedition and brought Molly handful of wild leeks and invited everyone for a barbecue tomorrow afternoon.

Ron was talking with dad about the chess moves that he used to win earlier when playing with Percy, who was a very sore loser and was currently sulking, hiding behind his book about detailed early history of magic.

Twins were teasing Ginny about the mud she still had behind her left ear and Jade was sitting in the middle of the family hovoc, just listening to all the noise and basking in the harmony. She missed this so much over the year.

Hogwarts had big dinners and feasts on different occasions, and even ordinary everyday dinner was fancy, but nothing could be compared to this.

"Alright, Ginny, Jade you go up first, make sure you wash out all the mud from your hair." Instructed Molly as she was taking plates from the table. It was still pretty early but four of her kids needed extensive cleaning and she didn't want anyone up at midnight, still with dirt on their face.

"Jade, you can shower in our bathroom, Ginny, don't forget to rinse the shampoo properly, you know what happened last time, Fred, George, get up from the sofa, you won't sit on the clean throw until you get all the mud off!" continued Molly while girls run upstairs to get shower. There was always limited supply of hot water so they were lucky to be the first ones.

The second bathroom of Burrow was much smaller than the main one (if that's even possible). It was attached to master's bedroom and usually only used by Molly and Arthur. It had clean white tiles on the walls and painted wooden floor. There was a hook on the wall, holding two fluffy towels and small shelf over the sink with Molly's creams and perfumes and a cabinet behind the mirror with Arthur's shaving essentials.

Jade walked in, feeling a little bit out of place as if she was about to shower in some hotel bathroom.

She placed her towel and PJs on the small counter next to the sink, looking at herself in the mirror.

She was getting pretty tan, and there were few freckles on her nose. That was something new. She couldn't remember getting freckles before.

After taking quick shower and washing her hair two times with Molly's shampoo which smelled like wild flowers and sunshine, exactly like Molly's hugs, Jade hopped out of the bathtub and dried off. She put on the cotton pajamas and walked out of the bathroom, to find Molly in the room, standing in front of a small dresser which was placed under the small side window. The top drawer was opened revealing wide selection of yarns, neatly sorted according to color and material.

Jade flipped the switch, turning off the light in the bathroom and Molly turned around.

"Oh look at you! All clean and ready for bed." Smiled Molly.

Jade wasn't sure what to say as the topic of mud-fight was still a little bit awkward for her. She was expecting Molly to be much more angry with them, so she decided to let it be and asked instead: "Are you choosing yarn for some new project?" She walked closer to Molly, holding the wet towel and her dirty clothes in her hands.

"Oh yes, I was just thinking I'll start something quick and more summery in between the Christmas sweaters." Said Molly looking back down at her yarn stash.

"I'm thinking about making few more of those awesome wash cloths you made me for Christmas. I miss them in the kitchen when they are in the laundry." Said Molly taking a small ball of cotton yarn. It was yellow, but few shades lighter than the one Jade used for her two cloths at winter.

"I could make them." Volunteered Jade. She didn't have any knitting project started and she quite missed the satisfied feeling she got when casting off something she finished herself.

"Would you?" asked Molly, looking down at her daughter.

"Yeah, sure… I mean, it will probably take me longer than it would take you, but I could make as many as you want. And there's a seed-stitch variation in the pattern which I could try if you helped me to figure it out." Said Jade, looking shyly at Molly. It was nice to have something they shared, a little bit of world where no one other went and where Jade felt special. She could knit and she enjoyed it, just like Molly, and no one else in the family would understand.

"That would be so nice of you!" beamed Molly. "And I could make a pillow cover for your room at school. You said something about decorating it more next year right?"

"You would do that? Really?" exclaimed Jade. For her, knitting something as big as pillow cover was a huge project and knowing Molly would abandon her Christmas sweater knitting, just to knit something this big for her, made Jade feel … loved. It was weird to get that feeling in such random situations. Of course Jade knew she's loved. After a year of being a Weasley she finally accepted the fact that they indeed love her, just like they love their other kids, but sometimes, in moments like this, it just hit her.

"Thank you!" she hugged her surprised mom and rested her head on Molly's shoulder. "I'm happy to be home again."

"Well, we're happy you're home too! But no more mud fights!" laughed Molly as she kissed Jade's forehead.

"No more mud fights." Jade agreed and walked back to her room, with small ball of yellow cotton, safely tucked under her arm.

Jade woke up suddenly. The sky behind her window was still black, meaning it had to be the middle of the night.

She looked around the room, trying to remember what woke her up. It was a dream, but all she could remember was seeing Fred's dead body on the floor of the Great Hall at school, with George hugging his twin and crying. She had this dream before, after the Easter accident, but it's been a while since she woke up from nightmare.

She sat up, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders. The small triangular window was open and soft wind was playing with the lace of her curtains.

She tried to control her breathing, but her heart was beating so fast that she just couldn't calm down.

"What's wrong honey?" came Molly's voice from the door. She walked inside and sat on the edge of Jade's bed.

Jade hugged her knees and hid her face. Tear started to flood her eyes and she didn't want Molly to see. "Just a bad dream." She whispered.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" asked Molly, gently pulling Jade closer to her side.

"It was about Fred, he… he died." Sobbed Jade. She didn't want to tell Molly about the nightmare, she didn't want to upset her and be worried again, but it felt so good to tell someone, she couldn't stop herself.

"Oh, dear, is it still about the accident in the forest? He's fine Jade, nothing happened. You are all alright." Whispered Molly patting Jade's hand gently.

"No, it's… he's older in the dream, and we're in the school." Whispered Jade, new tears coming to her eyes as she remembered the details.

"Nothing's going to happen to him, or anyone else. We're all just fine. Now…" smiled Molly, pulling blanket up, snuggly around Jade who was still shaking a little. "…you go back to sleep, no more nightmares today." Finished Molly, closing the window. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, but you need your sleep now, ok?" she kissed Jade's forehead and smoothed the blanket around her.

"Good night." Said Jade when Molly walked to the door.

"Good night sweetheart, if you need anything just call for us, but try to get some rest alright?" said Molly and left, leaving the door half open, so the yellow light from the corridor would shine a little into Jade's room.

They all slept in, which doesn't happen very often. The day was slow, mostly spent with preparations for the barbeque. Molly insisted on bringing some dessert and so she ordered all the kids to stay out of the kitchen for the day. When the time came for them to go, it was a strange sight. Molly carrying a baking bowl with still warm cobbler, Percy all spiff in clean button up shirt and dark green pants, twins running ahead of everyone with their matching tees and bags which they were planning to fill with samples from Lovegoods' garden (with permission of Luna's parents of course).

Ginny was talking to Ron, who was in a stage when he found the chattering of his baby sister really annoying so he was walking fast with Ginny skipping by his side.

Jade followed them with just a little bit less enthusiasm that normally.

Arthur was at the end of the row, holding a bucket of vanilla ice cream to go with the cobbler.

The moorland surrounding Luna's house was covered in blooming heather in all shades of pink and purple. Barbeque was set on the side of the house, with large brick fire-pit and carpets spread on the ground away from the fire, but still close enough for people to stay warm. They sat down on the throw pillows which Luna brought outside carefully arranging them in a circle on the sides of the carpeted area. There was delicious dinner of grilled ribs and sausages with cheese, followed by blueberry cobbler with ice cream from Molly.

Everyone was having great time, adults were talking and kids playing. Fred and George were pretending to be knights from their history of magic book and were fighting with sticks as swords, while Ginny and Luna were picking up handfuls of wild yellow flowers about which Jade was sure they smelled terrible but looked nice. Ron was getting second helping of cobbler and Percy sneaked into a quiet corner and pulled out a book which he managed to bring in spite of Molly's protests.

"You, my fellow warrior, won't see another sunrise, for I will end your life in this battle" announced George theatrically, putting his dirty sneaker-clad foot on Fred's chest.

"I shall die a hero!" exclaimed Fred and rolled his eyes madly before George pushed the stick between his arm and side of his body.

Arthur was sitting at the side of the "battlefield" with Jade snuggled against his side. She has gotten much more comfortable around them lately.

Then a lot of things happened really fast. First George pretend-killed Fred, accompanied by dramatic growls and exclamations, which made Ron snort out in laughter and cover the front of his shirt in blueberries. Arthur looked instinctively in his direction, only to see Jade turn pale and green before she turned around and threw up behind the low hedge which was growing alongside the garden.

Everybody got quiet for a while, concerned about Jade getting sick. Even Fred lifted his head from the ground where he was still lying "dead".

Arthur pulled Jade's short hair away from her face and gently patted her back. Ginny run to him with a glass of water from Molly so Jade could wash away the foul taste.

"It's alright. Just a little bit too much sugar for one night." Arthur shrugged, helping Jade sit back. He vanished all the mess with a simple charm before looking at Jade who was still pale but with a light pink blush on her cheeks, obviously embarrassed.

"I think a little walk would help. Right?" asked Arthur and pulled Jade up.

She gladly accepted any opportunity to get away from people staring at her and so they slowly walked to the end of the garden. Fresh wind and cold darkness of early summer night made her feel better but they couldn't erase the images from her memory. The nightmare from yesterday came back, leaving chills on Jade's back.

Arthur stopped by the corner of the fence, their backs turned to the house, looking down the hill at the lights of the village.

"Mom told me about your bad dream last night." Started Arthur. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's just …when I saw Fred lying on the ground right now…I couldn't stop seeing that picture in my head." Said Jade quietly.

"It's ok, you know it was just a bad dream and Fred is fine. Everyone's fine, but it's normal to have those fears, especially after accidents like that – in the forest…" Said Arthur but Jade interrupted him:

"But it's not just a nightmare, it… it wasn't just a dream, it was different." She struggled to explain.

"Honey, it was a dream,…" Arthur tried again.

"One time, I was nine, almost ten, I had a dream. It wasn't anything important or exciting. It was just me, walking down the corridor in some building. There was an ugly painting of yellow roses tied with pink ribbon on the wall. They had green striped wallpaper. I walked into a room with high ceiling and tall windows with heavy brown curtains hanging on the sides. There was a desk and a lady was sitting on a big leather armchair. I sat down on a sofa, close to the lady and she offered me biscuit. It tasted lovely but I didn't know to identify the taste. Best biscuit I have ever had. Then I woke up." Said Jade, looking seriously at Arthur.

"It was butterscotch." She added. "How do I know that? I've asked the lady. Three months later, when it happened. Every single detail I can remember from the dream. Everything happened. I asked the social worker if I've ever been in that office and she said it's the first time she has met me and she's been working there for over twenty years."

Arthur just stood there looking down at Jade.

"You know what was different about that dream? I could remember every detail. I still remember. I could paint you a copy of that picture which was hanging in the hall if I was a little bit better painter." When Arthur didn't say anything she added: "every morning I try to remember my dreams but the more I try, the harder it is and more details slip away. But that dream, I remember everything. And last night…" she didn't finish, because tears blurred her vision and Arthur pulled her into a hug.

"Shhh, it's ok, it doesn't mean anything, it was just a bad dream." He tried to calm her down.

"But it does! It does mean something!" sobbed Jade. "I remember all…"

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><p><strong>Hey guys" sorry for another long wait – finals are here and I try to study…<strong>

**sorry for any grammar mistakes I didn't have time to re-read this chapter...**

**Aaaaa (Guest)**** asked if second year will be in different story – I'm kind of thinking about putting every year in separate story so it would be more organized but I'm not sure…what do you think?**

**Cookie05**** – 70****th**** chapter is here! Thanks for reading! I can't believe I made it to 70 chapters!**

**Racheal Weasley**** thanks! I'm glad you like it!**

**xWellJustMex**** – my summer vacation starts 28.6. – so you still get summer sooner than me (hope that makes you feel better) :D **

**HpDork FreakaZiod**** thank you for reviewing!**

**Splendora-C.A.M-McGonagall**** thanks! I'm glad you keep reading and commenting!**


	71. homework

**bookreader1617 thank you for commenting!**

**HpDork FreakaZiod – I'm not really making Jade a psychic, a "dream" here and there doesn't really make you a psychic, it can happen to anyone right? I just wrote from my own experience and we'll see where it goes for Jade.**

**Aaaa – sorry it took me soo long to update – thanks for the review!**

**Cookie05 – yup, Jade saw the future – once in her life and now she thinks she saw the future again, that's why it scares her so much.**

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><p>"Please don't tell Molly" Jade whispered looking up at Arthur with wide eyes. She could only imagine Molly's reaction. Even if they didn't seem to believe her, hearing that someone saw your son die and that one of their dreams actually came true before is never nice.<p>

"Alright, alright, you need to calm down." Arthur smoothed Jade's bangs out of her eyes.

"Everything alright Arthur?" called Molly, walking to them.

"She's fine, but I think we had enough excitement for today. How about we head back home?" he suggested, gently squeezing Jade's shoulder as he pushed her in the direction of the rest of the group.

Luna was sad to see them go, but it was getting late anyway.

"See you soon Ginny!" she yelled, her long blond hair flying around her head like a halo.

The two girls grew really close in the last year when Ginny was left home with only Ron to play with.

Next couple of days went fine. They were filled with the usual summer mischief, leaving Molly with ton of cleaning and laundry every day. Strawberries were growing fast and she had to chase kids out of the garden all the time, if they wanted to have any strawberry jam this year.

"Did you at least start your homework?" Molly asked after lunch as she watched twins and Jade clean the dishes (they still had extra chores for the Easter accident), while she was sipping some coffee in a rare moment of silence in the house.

"Well, we started to think about it…" chuckled Fred.

"…and that's more than we usually do the first week home, mom." Finished George, winking at Jade who looked guilty. She forgot about those two essays she was supposed to turn in at the beginning of next school year.

"Why don't you start this afternoon? At least write down main points for the works you need to write and you can finish it over the weekend." Suggested Molly, getting up and walking to the sink. She kissed Jade's head and set her coffee mug down .

"Off you go now. If you do your homework now, you'll have all summer free. I bet Percy is already done."

"Percy doesn't have life!" exclaimed twins at the same time, looking angry as someone questioned their activities which kept them busy over the last week.

Jade sat down on the chair, pulling a scrap of old parchment from the drawer, to scribble down the main points of her essays.

One of them was supposed to be for transfiguration – _What are the main rules of transfiguration and why is it necessary to follow them – discuss_.

Professor McGonagall told them it's not necessary to base their homework strictly on facts. She wanted the students to think about the subject and voice their own ideas and opinions, which was nice change after year of reciting definitions and copying notes from books, but Jade had no idea what to write.

The second homework was from Herbology and they should choose their favorite plant and describe the effects and uses. Again, Jade didn't know where to start. Did she have a favorite plan? Absolutely not. She was sure that writing about strawberries or rhubarb wouldn't do – and those were the only plants she ever gave any thought.

When it was time for dinner, Jade had pretty much put down all the thoughts for the transfiguration homework but had nothing for Herbology and was nowhere close to starting.

Over the next two days she finished the essay for McGonagall and was pretty proud of herself, but second roll of parchment, with carefully written yet unfinished title _Different effects and uses of_ …. Was still empty. Jade spent two hours sitting at her desk and staring at the blank paper, adding ornaments to the letters before she gave up and run downstairs to see what was Molly making for dinner.

Ron and Ginny were outside with Arthur, spending last few hours of Sunday together before week started and their dad had to spend most of the time at work.

Jade looked at them wondering if she should just let the homework be and join them but Molly was pretty serious about them finishing it as soon as possible, so Jade turned around walking to the kitchen instead. The windows were open and all counters polished and floor cleaned.

Twins were locked in their room again, and loud noises of explosions could be heard from behind the closed door.

Molly had large cutting board set on the table with various vegetables ready for the chicken salad she was preparing with left-over chicken from lunch.

"Hi honey, finished with your essays finally?" asked Molly smiling as she washed the rucola leaves over the sink.

"Well, one of them. I'm kind of stuck with the Herbology one." Said Jade sneaking a piece of chicken from the table.

"Do you need any help?" offered Molly, taking a handful of cherry tomatoes from the fridge.

"I just need to find some interesting plant to write about, it will be pretty easy once I choose one, but I want to write about something that's really interesting, not just choose something randomly from the atlas." Explained Jade.

"Well, why don't you just let it be for now? Maybe you'll find something interesting over the summer and if not, you'll choose some plant from the book, I'm sure there's plenty of interesting ones there." Smiled Molly, tossing all the ingredients in large salad bowl.

"Mom! Can we sleep outside? Dad says the hay pile is dry already and it's warm enough." Ron run into the kitchen after Molly called them for the dinner.

"Well… alright, maybe some day this week…" she started but Ron interrupted her.

"What about tonight? Please mom!" and Ginny joined in "Yeah, it will be awesome, we'll take all the blankets and…"

"Not tonight dears. Now hurry up and wash your hands before we eat." Molly rushed them out of the kitchen but the pleading continued once they all sat down at the dinner table.

"We'll wear warm clothes mom!"

"And we'll clean everything in the morning, you don't have to do anything."

"We could…" shouted Ron and Ginny over each other.

"Not tonight, alright? We'll talk about it in the morning and find some better day."

"But mom…" started Ron one more time and Arthur cut him off.

"It's full moon today guys, not the best night for sleep-over out of the house."

There was a brief moment of silence, which was interrupted by Fred.

"can you pass me the salt?" he asked and George agreed loudly, just to interrupt the awkward moment.

"But we have charms set around the house…" started Ron, but Molly's strict look made him stop.

"We could sleep outside tomorrow?" suggested Fred.

"You have an appointment in St. Mungo's Freddie, just a check up for that bite on Tuesday, it's early in the morning, but maybe the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, if it's warm enough." Said Molly, getting up from the table to bring dishes to the sink.

Jade was sitting up in her bed, looking out of the window. Moon hanging high on the perfectly clear sky was illuminating her bedroom with bright light. She left the window open as nights were getting really warm, but the air was completely still.

The usual sounds coming from the forest and fields surrounding the Burrow were echoing in the silence. A year ago, the quiet darkness of rural nights would drive Jade crazy, she was used to much louder city streets and traffic zooming under her window. Now she listened to the stillness of the night in peace. There were no howls, nor close, neither in the distance. She wasn't sure if it was thanks to the protective charms around the house or if there was simply no werewolf in the area.

Jade remembered Mr. Lupin, family friend who visited last summer. She didn't hear anything about him for a while, yet she felt like he was her friend and she desperately wanted to help him somehow.

Would it be too weird to send him a letter or maybe a postcard to cheer him up after full moon? Well it was too late now, but maybe next months…

And with thoughts troubled by lonely misunderstood werewolves Jade fell asleep.

On Monday they've spent all day just lounging outside in the shade, sipping dandelion lemonade and snacking on vanilla muffins with raisins which Molly pulled out of the freezer and defrosted them with a simple charm.

She always had a pack or two of baked goodies stored in the freezer for days like this, when there was just too much laundry or cleaning to do and she needed kids out of her way.

At lunch time, everyone sat down around the kitchen table, open windows around the room provided gentle cool draft, compared to the unmoving air outside. Molly put down the last plate of lentil veggie burger with generous helping of baked potatoes in front of Percy when Luna's dad knocked on the bottom half of the kitchen door (the top half was open).

"Oh, Xeno, welcome! Come in, come in!" Molly rushed to open the door completely.

"Would you like to have some lunch with us? Something to drink?" suggested Molly, already busying herself with a cup of fresh lemonade.

"Oh, no, thank you so much but I don't have a lot of time. You see, I left my girls at home packing. There's been a last minute opportunity to travel. I'll be writing an article about magical fauna and flora of Song district in Thailand, I'm taking my Luna with me." Said Luna's dad quickly, smiling dreamily, just like Luna did when she was telling them about one of her adventures.

"How exciting!" beamed Molly.

"Yes, indeed…but I came to apologize, we're leaving tonight and we can't keep an eye on your boys and girls tomorrow. Terribly sorry, Luna was really excited to have all her friends over for the day but you see, the article…"

"Don't worry about it." Molly shook her head. I'll figure something out. Now, did you lot have time for lunch with all the last minute packing?" asked Molly, but she didn't wait for Luna's dad to answer, and continued "of course not, you have enough worries with the travel. Packing for the whole family, and for such an exotic place, really,…oh my…" mumbled Molly.

She turned to Xenophilius handing him a Tupperware box with three large lentil burgers and baked potatoes.

"Here you go, for the journey, I'm sure little Luna will need a snack on the way, trust me, I know how it is to travel with kids." Smiled Molly, shaking her head when Xeno started to thank her.

"No problem at all. You enjoy your trip." Molly waved after him as he walked across the garden, heading back home to check if all necessities were packed in the travel trunk.

"I'm perfectly fine, I don't need to have a check up." Argued Fred and George nodded, pulling up the hem of Fred's tee to show their mom the healed scar, as they were standing in the door of the master's bedroom, Monday night.

"It's already healed." Said George, poking Fred's side, his finger leaving red imprint on Fred's scarred hip. Fred flinched slightly but grinned cheekily at their mom.

"No discussions, we already have an appointment." Said Molly strictly looking at her boys. "Did you shower? Toenails all clean?" she inquired but was interrupted by Percy who came downstairs from his room.

"Mom, I really need to study, there's this extra curricular work I need to finish for professor Flitwick and …"

"Percy, I told you, dad needs to go to work and Lovegoods are traveling, I'm not leaving you alone." Said Molly folding the quilt from the bed.

"Fred, did you clean your ears? I don't want any embarrassments at the hospital. You go clean them again."

"But mom! I'm fifteen! I should be able to stay at home for a few hours without you keeping an eye on me!" argued Percy, stomping his bare foot at the floor.

"Very mature of you Perce." Muttered Fred and George chuckled.

"Well, I suppose that's true,…" started Molly "we'll only be gone for a few hours after all."

"Then I want to stay home too!" exclaimed Ginny who came to find out what was going on.

"And me too, I don't want to wake up early and spend all morning at the hospital wing!" yelled Ron over the noise.

Jade just climbed the stairs from the kitchen where she was returning a mug.

She saw George whispering something to Fred who nodded briefly and wide grin spread on his face.

They both winked at Jade when they caught her watching.

"Mom, I think I'll stay home too. I can help Percy watch the small kids." Announced George loudly and silence fell over the Burrow. Never in thirteen years, did Fred and George willingly left each other's side.

"What's this commotion about?" roared Arthur, coming out of the bathroom, drying his hair with yellow towel. "Oh, family meeting?" he laughed and started to fold his robes which were carelessly thrown on the floor.

"Really mom, nobody fancies waking up that early, I'm sure we'll still be asleep when you get home." Added George when no one else spoke.

"Sure, I wish I could sleep in tomorrow, no need for everyone to suffer with me." Said Fred solemnly pretending to wipe his eyes.

"That's unheard of, George… you all should be ashamed, your brother's going to hospital…" started Molly.

"…for unnecessary check up.." interrupted George.

"…and you won't go and support him just because you want to sleep in?!" Molly continued.

"No, really mom, I don't mind." Said Fred after exchanging desperate looks with George.

Jade knew they had some plan, she didn't know what, but she wanted to help, being part of their pranks was fun after all, and they never led to anything terribly awful, well except for that spider accident but…

"I don't mind waking up, I'll go with Fred and you, and everyone else can sleep in." said Jade, and another silence followed. It was pretty unusual for Jade to speak so loudly and being heard over everyone.

"Well…" Molly was slightly shocked, not knowing what to say."

"When do we leave?" asked Jade as if nothing happened.

"half past eight." Said Molly.

"Alright, then it's settled, you lot can sleep in, no mischief tomorrow, until mom, Jade and Fred come back." Concluded Arthur, and after an angry glance from Molly he added "no mischief all day."

"…until I come home." He winked at his kids and earned a soft, rather loving punch in the arm from Molly.

After wishing each other sweet dreams Weasley kids left their parents' bedroom and climbed up the stairs to their respective rooms.

"hey, Fred, George? A word?" whispered Jade as they stopped in front of her bedroom.

Twins looked at her, already knowing what she was going to ask.

"Not here." Fred shook his head and George gestures for Jade to follow them upstairs, because Jade's bedroom was way too close to mom and dad's .


	72. wolf's bane

**I'm so sorry for taking this long to update. Life's crazy. I have no summer, still doing exams for school and I had no time to write. I have few more chapters already planned in my head and as soon as I find a bit of free time to type them I'll update again. Thanks for being patient with me and for commenting – your reviews keep me going.**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>George closed the door of their bedroom softly, turning to Jade.<p>

"Alright, so, what's up?" asked Fred innocently, taking off his shirt and pulling a pajama top over his head.

"What's up? Well, you tell me." Replied Jade, folding her arms in front of her. "Why did I just volunteer to get up early and made mom agree that George can stay home?"

"Oh, yeah, thanks for that." Said George casually, walking across the room in nothing but his underwear.

"Can everyone please stop undressing while I'm here trying to talk to you?" asked Jade, her cheeks slightly pink as she looked up on the ceiling, which she assumed will be the safest choice.

"we're still working on those fireworks – as you know." Explained Fred, chuckling at her as she refused to look at him.

"Fireworks? Didn't you do something about them last summer?" asked Jade intrigued, forgetting about embarrassment, she sat down on George's bed.

"There's always room for improvement, and as you may have noticed, we're a year older now…." Started Fred.

"More mature and better educated." Added George, "not to mention – more handsome." He winked at Jade from the other side of the room where he was still standing with a pair of pajama pants in his hand.

"Aren't you going to put those on?" asked Jade pointing to the piece of clothing in his hand.

"I thought we're not supposed to keep undressing." smirked George and tugged at the elastic of his boxers.

"ohmygod!" squeaked Jade covering her red face. "Don't you dare!"

Twins were laughing so hard that Fred fell off his bed.

"Anyway… we need to test one little change we made to the original Filibuster's fireworks, and as everyone knows, mom's not the biggest fan of experimental magic, so tomorrow…" Explained George casually.

"Are you mental?! It's dangerous! And there won't be anyone around in case something happens!" yelled Jade.

"Pssst!" shushed her Fred, creeping to the door and listening if he could hear any sounds from the corridor.

"It's nothing big, we're testing the invention on the smallest fireworks, even if it backfires…" continued George.

"…which it won't, we know our stuff. There's nothing to worry about, we're just trying to change the shape of the sparkles, we did the charm at Hogwarts, so mom wouldn't freak out about us doing magic out of school." Continued Fred.

"And we just need to try one and see the effect." Said George.

"I'll be devastated that I can't see it, of course, but such are the sacrifices one must …" said Fred but Jade interrupted him.

"Well, alright then, if something happens to you, I don't know any of this, understood? And don't you dare get hurt! And…" she hesitated a little…"why didn't you tell me about it before? I thought … maybe I could have helped." She finished slowly.

"Jade! No… " started Fred but didn't know how to finish so he just looked desperately at George who continued:

"Jade, it's not that we didn't want to tell you, it's just…it's not a big project of some extra funny prank."

"It's all just technical stuff, it'll probably take years to finish, we didn't manage to get any visible results yet. It's kind of boring." Said Fred.

"Well.. I …you don't think that I could help in long-term projects? Like… you don't want me to help with pranks in the future? – I mean, in a couple of years?" frowned Jade.

"No! Of course we do, we just weren't sure if you'd be interested in boring stuff. We mainly just search library books for hours and rarely find useful spells." George continued with explanations but they still sounded like excuses to Jade.

"Well, you don't have to include me in everything you do if you don't want to, really…" said Jade, realizing she shouldn't expect to be included every time. After all, a year ago they didn't know her and used to pull pranks alone, now she felt like some intruder. Agrhh. "…good night, see you in the morning." She quickly whispered and slipped out of the room before anyone could stop her.

"Shit." Fred swore under his nose and moved to the door to follow Jade, when their mom came upstairs, bringing a set of clean, freshly ironed clothes for tomorrow's visit to the doctor.

"What are you boys doing out of bed? Hurry up now, I don't want to hear a single whisper coming from here. Fred you need to wake up early and George, if you would get out of bed before lunchtime and help Percy de-gnome the garden, it wouldn't kill you."

Molly kissed both of her sons' foreheads in spite of their protests and left the room.

"Mom it's the middle of the night!" protested Fred as Molly shook him awake. It was early morning and the room was dark, only little triangles of sunshine were sparkling on the rug – light finding its way through the closed shutters.

Warm air from outside was creeping in together with the light. Molly sighed and picked up a t-shirt which was still lying on the floor from yesterday. She put it in the laundry basket in the corner of boys' room and went back downstairs to finish breakfast.

Fred groaned falling back between the covers but quickly pulled them off, feeling too warm and sweaty. He looked over at George who was still asleep, few drops of sweat already running down his temples.

Fred tip-toed over to his brother's bed, making sure he avoided the squeaky board. If it was Ron or Percy, Fred would wake them up mercilessly, with a loud bang or maybe even a kick to the bed, that would be fun. Percy was incredibly grumpy when they woke him up before his alarm clock went off , and Ron was usually confused and disoriented if he woke up suddenly – which served as a source of great fun for the twins.

But Fred simply grabbed the top of George's blanket and gently pulled it down, leaving only thin cotton sheet on the bed. He knew that George needed some cover to sleep but in this tropical temperature he'd wake up really soon if he stayed bundled in the blanket as he was before.

Fred grabbed the pile of clean clothes mom brought up yesterday and his towel which was hanging on the hook on the door, heading to the bathroom for a quick shower.

When he came downstairs, freshly showered but already dressed, although his hair was dripping wet, he found Jade sitting at the table, wearing blue summer dress with polka dots. Fred vaguely remembered it from last summer. There was a moment of awkward silence between them. Then Jade smiled looking him straight in the eyes, silently telling him to let it be, so he smiled back and sat opposite her, pulling a bowl of porridge in front of him.

"Hurry up, we're already late. George, come on, Jade put on some shoes, here's the floo powder." Molly instructed them, trying to accomplish at least ten tasks at the same time.

They arrived at St. Mungo's covered in ash and after mom briefly brushed it off from their clothes, using rather big fluffy brush they were ready to go.

Molly led the way to the room designed for treatment of magical bites and scratches where they were supposed to meet the healer who'd be checking Fred's hip.

They entered and Jade had an opportunity to look at the room properly since first time she was still in shock and incredibly scared for Fred. There were beds, mostly empty with curtains drawn back, but one place in the corner was occupied.

"Oh, welcome!" the healer greeted them, rushing Mrs. Weasley and Fred to one of the empty beds, closing the curtains from one side for a little bit of privacy. Jade shuffled closer, not knowing what to do.

"Take off your shirt please." The healer asked quickly but smiled at Fred who looked a little bit lost. "You may sit on the bed, I'll be back shortly, we have an emergency here and we're short of people since two of our healers were transferred. Not many people want to do this job. " he sighed and rushed over to the corner bed.

Fred took off his shirt and leaned against the pillow, hands behind his bed.

"Might as well take a nap since I had to wake at such ungodly hour." He winked at Jade and patted bed beside him. Jade laughed but stopped quickly when mom frowned at Fred, made him sit up and started to fuss about the scar.

Jade was used to the sight by now. Fred and George would tell the story so many times at school, Fred promptly showing off his scar, that she didn't even flinch when she saw it now, although it still looked rather nasty. It was different though, when twins joked about it. Now when she saw Molly's worried face and glittering eyes she felt bad, remembering the incident was basically her fault.

Healer came back with a tray of scary looking silver instruments and few bottles of potions, accompanied by huge bundle of cotton bandages.

Seeing this will take a while, Jade wandered around the room, leaving Molly and Fred with the healer who started to apply potions to the scar tissue and cleaning it.

There were pictures of terrible wounds on the walls, which Jade thought was a rather poorly chosen decoration for hospital room. Few portraits of past healers along the east wall were all empty.

Young healer rushed past her, walking towards a desk which was pulled in the corner of the room, carrying a pile of rolled parchments. One of them fell off, without the young man noticing so Jae picked it up and brought it over to the table.

"Thanks." Murmured the man, trying to organize new parchments, sorting the notes into categories with the old ones which were already neatly disposed around the desk.

"It's about time we finished the wolf's bane potion. It should stop incidents like these once it's tested and available to the patients in monthly basis, the problem is with the funding, ministry doesn't think it's important enough." The healer shook his head, taking off his light blue glasses and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

Jade stood there awkwardly not knowing what to say.

"What's a wolf's mane potion?" she finally asked.

The healer looked at her as if he only saw her now.

"Oh… well, not wolf's mane but wolf's bane…it's a plant Aconitum, which we're trying to use for a potion which would anesthetize werewolves during full moon and prevent accidents of people being bitten. But it's highly toxic and we're still trying to find a way to reduce the toxicity but preserve anesthetic properties…" he shook his head and looked through the notes.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this." The healer chuckled to himself "well, maybe it'll help me to organize my thoughts – it looks like dead end right now."

"Is that the plant?" asked Jade, looking thoughtfully at a sketch of blue flowers which was stapled to the wooden frame of the window.

"Yeah, that's Aconitum ferrox but we're using aconitum luridum – we have a researcher in Himalayas right now who's supplying us with wild plants, they're supposed to have higher concentration of the alkaloids."

"yeah, muggles use it too, right? Doesn't their method work for the potion? You know, they have a way to process it somehow so it doesn't kill people." Said Jade, remembering an article about traditional Chinese medicine she read somewhere long time ago. And her reading of random magazines found around the house of foster families finally proved to be useful.

"What do you mean muggles use it?!" asked the healer startled, suddenly sitting up straight in the chair.

"Well, I think…" started Jade, not sure what to say. "I've read an article and I'm pretty sure it was about this plant. They boil it together with ginger or something like that. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure there was a way to do it. Didn't you try the muggle way before?" asked Jade confused. Surely they had to try all the different procedures if they did a serious research.

"We… " the healer blushed slightly, his eyes shining with excitement. "I don't think we did, but I'll look into it right now! That would get us a step closer to the potion! You have no idea what that would mean…" he exclaimed and franticly scribbled notes on the other side of already full parchment.

"It sounds really interesting, I wish I could learn more about things like that." Said Jade dreamily. "I find werewolves very interesting and I think it's wonderful that you're trying to make the transformations safer for them."

He looked at her confused. "you think it's wonderful that we're helping werewolves?" they didn't meet a lot of people outside their ward with this opinion.

"Why shouldn't you try to help them? They are brave people facing terrible transformations each month which is not their fault and they get judged by people who have no idea about any of the facts. Of course they deserve to get all the help you can provide. I'm sure they'd be excited to know you're working on a potion to help. Did you tell them? Just imagine how much hope it would bring." Stated Jade rather loudly, setting a silence to the room.

"Well, we try our best." Said the man, still looking startled. "It's good to know that young people like you have some sense and actually think about the facts before judging werewolves, like most of the wizards do.

"I'm Nelson Wright by the way. And if your information proves to be true, you, young lady will be one of the contributors to our research.

"Jade Mraz." she introduced herself.


	73. letters

**Here's another chapter – sorry for the delay – I'm currently on vacation with no stable internet connection so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post this. **

**Thank you so much for the reviews I love to hear from you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>They returned from the check-up, finding Percy and George in the garden, tossing gnomes over the hedge.<p>

Molly rushed to the kitchen to prepare lunch for her bunch of hungry kids as it was nearly 12 .

Jade and Fred were sent upstairs to change from their nice clothes into something more suitable for hot summer day.

"What's wrong with your eyebrow?" asked Jade as soon as she joined George outside, grabbing two gnomes at the same time.

"Nothing." Shushed her George and pulled his old summer hat lower, to cover the right side of his face.

"How did it go?" Fred wanted to know.

"Well, some of the sparks were a bit bigger but some were less bright and kind of unpredictable – hence my missing half of the eyebrow." Frowned George. "It's gonna take a lot of work. We might need to do more research and find different charms, the ones we used didn't really work."

"At least we can take them off the list and concentrate on those we didn't try yet."

Shrugged Fred and walked back inside as their mom called them to eat just then.

After lunch, Molly finally agreed to their plan and promised to let them sleep outside that night.

There wasn't enough sleeping bags for all the Wasleys' kids so they spent the afternoon bringing old bed sheets and blankets from the attic.

They pulled some of the hay down, leaving rather large, slightly hollow place on top of the pile. Percy straightened large white bed sheet there, securing the corners with strings leading all the way down to the ground.

They used one of Molly's old patchwork comforters as another layer so the hay wouldn't poke them through the thin cotton. Percy vaguely remembered the comforter – it used to cover the living room sofa before Molly replaced the covers.

They extended a little roof over the bed area, made out of old fabric they found neatly stashed in the attic.

Molly allowed them to play with everything they found but asked several times to keep the fabric in one piece. She wanted to sew new shorts for them this summer and the old forgotten cotton was pretty green with white print.

Arthur came home and found a bunch of tired looking kids lying on the hay, enjoying the shadow after hours of work. Their nest for the night looked pretty cozy, with pillows and blankets arranger around the edges.

They all had a glass bottle of lemonade with straws and plate of sliced apples to share.

Arthur sneaked inside. He enjoyed the loud crazy welcome his kids usually gave him upon his arrival from work, but getting a little bit of time alone with Molly was a rare treat.

She was in the kitchen, relaxing herself. They had a pot of soup in the fridge for dinner and she decided to leave laundry till tomorrow, when she'll be able to wash the cotton fabric as well, after the kids are done playing fort. She was sitting with her back turned to the door, facing the window from where light breeze was coming. A glass of iced coffee on her side lazily browsing Witch weekly. She had a stack of old sewing patterns pulled out from the bottom drawer of the living room shelf but couldn't find anything she'd want to make for the kids, so she gave up and decided to read the month old issue. With kids at home she still didn't have time to read through it.

"Hello beautiful." Whispered Arthur and leaned over Molly's shoulder to kiss her.

"Arthur!" exclaimed Molly, startled, as she didn't hear him come in.

He kissed her again as she jumped up from the chair.

"I'll make you a sandwich right away dear. What would you like?" she smiled at him as he put his briefcase on the table and set the mail he was carrying on top of it.

"cheese with cucumber? Or we still have some ham left over from Sunday." Asked Molly, head stuck in the fridge, trying to come up with a nice tasty combination for a sandwich.

Arthur walked to her and held her waist, spinning her around and kissing her lips again. "I don't want no sandwich. I want you." He whispered to her right ear, kissing the ticklish spot on Molly's neck.

"What's got into you?" she giggled but held onto his arms really strong so he wouldn't let go.

"Well, it's been a while since we had a moment alo-" but he was interrupted by Ron running into the kitchen with empty plate.

"eeew dad! Get away from mom!" he yelled and then started to laugh really hard as Arthur started to chase him around the kitchen table.

"No running in the kitchen!" yelled Molly, catching the plate which slipped from Ron's hands at the last second before it hit the ground.

Ron run out of the house, still chased by dad, who stopped in the doorway,

"see? This is what I was talking about. No time alone. We'll have to fix that. " he winked at Molly mischievously and sprinted out to catch his youngest son who was still running away, looking back to see if dad's chasing him.

The way he winked at her, the same trouble-maker grin and those eyes – always made her remember how much their boys resembled to their daddy and how proud she was of them growing up to be as awesome men as their father is.

After a moment of swooning she turned around, closed the fridge door and sat back down to finish the coffee before starting the dinner.

"Kids! Get inside and wash up before we eat!" Molly yelled from the kitchen door, watching a bunch of hungry kids plus Arthur run from around the corner. They were getting more and more freckles as the summer sun started to shine more often these last days and Jade was getting more tan, which made her stand out among the Weasleys red headed light skinned bunch of kids.

Jade's light grey eyes were shining from her tan face.

"Can I help with dinner?" she asked just as Molly turned on the stove to heat up the soup.

"That's so nice of you Jade. I'd love some help. It gets lonely in the kitchen sometimes." Chatted Molly as she pulled out half of a bread loaf. It was already two days old and more on the chewy side. Nobody would eat it when Molly baked fresh bread the next day so she decided to used it up tonight.

"You could slice this, and butter both sides, lightly." added Molly as she set a large baking sheet on the table. "Then we'll add some cheese and garlic on top and bake them." She smiled at Jade who took the bread-knife from the drawer and unhooked the cutting board from its place over the sink.

"I think I want to write my essay for Herbology about Wolf's bane." Said Jade as she cut the slices of bread in half.

"That's great idea dear, you should check if they mention it in the books you have from school, it's not commonly used in potions but there could be something … or maybe we could stop at the library down at the village – they ought to have something and it would be interesting to include muggle perspective on the topic right?" suggested Molly, steering the soup.

"Yeah, that would be great. And I think I'll write to the healer we've met today. Maybe he'll find a little bit of time and tell me more about the way they're using it in the potion to help werewolves." Added Jade excitedly.

"I'm not sure they'll be willing to share information about their research Jade, people usually guard their discoveries so no one would steal the idea and get the fame, but you can try write him. There's a parchment on…" said Molly.

"…on the window shelf, I know." Smiled Jade, not at all discouraged by the possibility of not being able to get more details. The healer seemed really nice and she wasn't going to give up without trying.

_Dear Mr. N. Wright,_

_I'm writing you to say than you for working on the Wolf's bane potion. I think it is a very important research you're doing and I wish you all the luck of the world so you can finish it as soon as possible. _

_I'm currently working on my Herbology essay for next academic year and I'd like to ask if it would be possible for you to share a little bit more about your research?_

_I'v decided to choose the Wolf's bane plant because of it's possible use in potion which would eventually help werewolves and I'd love to include an expert's point of view. _

_Please let me know if it would be possible for you. I know most of the research is usually kept secret but I would be grateful for any piece of information you could share. _

_Thank you for your time, _

_Yours sincerely _

_Jade Mraz _

Jade re-read her letter several times to make sure she included everything she wanted. It wasn't too long, as she didn't want to take too much time from busy schedule of a healer.

She sealed it and tied it securely to the leg of their family owl, kissing him gently on the soft neck feathers, before letting him fly out of the back door.

Dinner was delicious as always. And after the meal and good night cup of chocolate milk, kids run upstairs to change into long sweatpants and flannel shirts.

Jade took her pillow as well, running out of the door, closely followed by the rest of the Weasley kids.

"Alright everyone. You're not allowed to wander off at night. Stay at the back yard and don't stay up too late ok? " said Arthur as he kissed all of his kids' foreheads as they climbed up on the pile of hay where their bed was waiting.

"the back door will be open, and you can call us anytime you want and …" started Molly worried but Arthur kissed her cheek and pushed her gently inside. "Don't worry dear, they'll be ok."

"Let the party begin!" exclaimed twins at the same time accompanied by loud Hurray from Jade, Ron and Ginny, even Percy smiled as he lied back and looked up at the starry sky.

"So here are the rules: " started Fred.

"No one's going inside tonight." Said George holding up one finger.

"This is survival in the wilderness. No crying or complaining." Added Fred holding up two fingers.

"now let's see what munchies mom packed!" they both yelled at the same time and everyone attacked the picnic basket Molly gave them and with loud cheering they discovered a pack of roasted salted peanuts, dried cranberries, cans of orange Fanta Arthur brought home from work, grilled cheese sandwiches and little chocolate muffins.

Molly paused at the stairs, smiling as the exclamations of the kids carried inside through open window.

"They'll be alright." Repeated Arthur from the bathroom with toothbrush in one hand.

"I know, I know." She nodded her head and went to get ready for the night.

"Molly there was a letter from the social services in the mail. I got a note from Matilda today, she sent it to work, to make sure we'll pick up the letter at the muggle post office. It looks pretty official, I had to sign some paper that I received it." Said Arthur, turning off the bathroom light and walking to the bed where Molly was sitting with a comb in her hand, brushing her hair like every night.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" exclaimed Molly, looking worried as she grabbed the white envelope from Arthur's outstretched hand.

"I thought we should read it first to see what it is, before telling Jade, plus I didn't want to spoil their night camping out."

"Alright, alright, shush now." Molly opened the envelope and unfolded the letter.

There was one officially looking paper, neatly typed on computer, another note, which Molly recognized as Matilda's handwriting and small sealed envelope made of expensive looking paper with Jade's full name printed in golden ink on top of it..

Molly's hand shoot up to her heart as she read through the official letter.

"What is it dear?" Asked Arthur, sitting down on her side, reaching for the paper.

"They say some relatives from Ireland who hired a detective to find Jade are inviting her for family reunion this summer." Whispered Molly looking pale.

Arthur grabbed Matilda's letter, hoping for more explanation.

_Dearest Arthur and Molly, _

_I'll try to explain what's going on. _

_As it turns out Jade's grandmother had two sisters but she interrupted any contact with the family when she married a man from lower class and they run away together, living bohemian life as artists on the way, spending most of the year traveling the world in caravan. _

_Jade's mother being a muggleborn witch married a wizard and never re-new contact with her mother's sisters, whom she's never met. _

_Jade great-aunts were searching for her since they learned that Jade's parents passed away but due to Jade being placed in foster system and the muggle way of protecting information about orphaned children in care of the country it was impossible to find her. Their detective only located her now, as she's been legally adopted and he had some access to the decisions made by the court as those are to some degree accessible for lawyers and police. Anyway, they've contacted the adoption agency, as that's the only legal way to get in contact with adopted child if they are biologically related._

_Now Molly, don't panic, we've explained that Jade's been adopted and is adjusting to the new family really well and we wouldn't want to interrupt the process of bonding or bring more confusion and they completely understand._

_We had their lawyer in our office and I talked to him myself, he's a very respectable and polite man._

_All they want is to meet Jade and get to know their grand-niece as they never had the opportunity to get to know her or her mother._

_They offered to take Jade for one week at the end of July, when they'll have family reunion organized in their house. They also offered to pay for the flight ticket and pick her up at the airport. I assure you she'd be well taken care of._

_They also know that the decision is up to you as a family and assured me they'll understand if Jade won't be able to come. It's just a suggestion for you and for Jade to consider. _

_Please let me know how you decide and I'd send you more contact information along with the copy of the background check we did on them._

_If you have more questions don't hesitate to contact me._

_I hope to hear from you soon_

_With love _

_Matilda Jones._

Arthur folded the letter and they looked at each other in silence.

"That's orion, and that over there is part of Ursa Major…" explained Percy pointing at the constellations on the sky.

"Or as we like to call it, the butt of mama bear." Laughed twins, snacking on the leftovers from the basket.

Ginny was already asleep and Ron looked unconscious as well, but he was still chewing on something, chocolate smeared over his left cheek.

"and that one's Sirius…and do you see the milky way?" Percy continued explaining and Jade nodded. She already knew some of the constellations but it was nice to lay there with her brothers around and just listen to them talk. She was home.

They woke up early, around six in the morning when sun started to rise. The world around them was cold and wet from the morning dew which fell a while ago (thank Merlin they thought about adding the roof which protected them from most of the humidity).

"I guess we should head inside." Suggested Percy, shaking Ron and Ginny awake. And for once, everyone agreed, not even the twins protested against the idea.

They climbed down the pile of hay and marched to the kitchen in a silent row, Percy carrying Ginny who complained about the grass being too cold for bare feet, and she instantly fell back asleep as he picked her up.

After sleeping only few hours, finally settling down around one in the morning they didn't feel like talking at all.

Dad met them in the kitchen as he was walking down the stairs to grab a cup of coffee before he started to get ready for work.

"Oh, good morning happy campers!" he exclaimed cheerfully, ruffling the twins' hair as they passed by him. Boys only growled in response, not ready to fully wake up yet and they dragged themselves up to their room to sleep some more.

Ron followed closely, mumbling good morning to his dad, still half asleep.

Arthur picked Ginny from Percy's arms and turned around to carry her back to bed.

Jade stayed in the kitchen. She didn't feel like sleeping anymore, maybe she'll sneak in a nap after lunch but she knew there was no way she'd fall asleep again. After all she was pretty well rested after dreamless night of heavy sleep in fresh air.


	74. decisions

**I'm so sorry I let you wait for such a long time guys! really sorry...**

**here's another chapter...I hope you'll like it...it's not my favorite, but it's necessary for the story to continue, so..**

**enjoy!**

**and thanks for all the reviews! I love reading them!**

* * *

><p>Molly waited with the news about Jade's invitation to the family reunion till Arthur came back from work.<p>

She felt like it was something both of them should be present for.

Kids spent the day outside. It's been sunny at first but clouds started to come after lunch, hanging low over Devon countryside with promise of rain.

The air was heavy and humid so everyone welcomed the wind which started around three in the afternoon. Everyone but Molly, who had the laundry outside, drying in neat lines.

She sent kids out with a basket of cloth pegs to secure the drying laundry better.

"I'm home!" they heard dad call from the living room.

"You should see the storm in London. Heavy rain and thunder, I hope it doesn't get here. I had to use the floo. Six sicles well worth the price, I don't know how I'd apparate in such weather." He shook his head, kissed Molly on her cheek and run upstairs to change.

Molly noticed new tear in the hem of his work robes. She'd have to patch it later.

After dinner the rain started, luckily all the laundry was already inside, freshly washed and ironed fabric waiting in neat pile close to Molly's sewing machine, soon to be transformed into new shorts for the kids.

The whole Weasley family was launching on the sofa, listening to the radio, as it wasn't time for bed quite yet.

"Jade honey, can I talk to you for a minute in the kitchen?" asked Arthur, getting up and taking one more biscuit from the plate Molly set up on the table for kids to snack on.

"Sure." Answered Jade, a little bit confused, slowly getting up from the armchair where she was browsing the index of her herbology school textbook to see if she missed any reference about Wolf's bane. So far she found depressingly low amount of information about her chosen topic for the essay.

Molly was drying last of the plates from dinner when Jade walked in. Arthur closed the kitchen door, making sure they had some privacy.

"What's wrong?" asked Jade wearily, the memory of twins hiding boxes with questionable content under her bed popping into her head.

"Nothing's wrong dear, we just wanted to talk for a bit." Smiled Molly, sitting down, patting the surface of the table gently, indicating for Jade to sit down as well.

Arthur took an envelope from the stack of mail they were keeping on the window.

"There's this letter from Miss Jones, you know, your social worker." Started Arthur slowly.

"And everything is perfectly fine." He added seeing the horror expression on Jade's face. It was a habit for her – in the past, letters from social workers never meant something good.

"The thing is…" said Molly, trying to find the right words. "she was contacted by Two ladies from Ireland who…they are sisters of your grandmother."

"But all my grandparents are dead, there's no one left from my family, that's what you told me." Jade shook her head confused. All her life she's been told there's no one left and that's why she was passed around in the foster system.

"Well, they weren't in contact with your grandma for a long time and your mom didn't know them because of that so there was no contact between them and your parents. Apparently they've been looking for you since they heard about your parents passing away, but couldn't find you when you were in care of the country." Molly explained quickly, not wanting Jade to think someone abandoned her willingly.

"Their detective found you now, after you came to our family. They'd like to know if you want to …get in contact with them?" said Arthur, turning the envelope in his hands.

"why now? Why they left me all those years …it was terrible, I had to move all the time, and now…!" Jade yelled not really knowing why it hurt so much suddenly, to find out there was someone out there, related to her, yet they didn't know her and she didn't know them, why did it hurt so much even though one minute ago, everything was right. Now her world was spinning, all her thoughts mixed and confused.

"Honey, they were trying all those years, but couldn't find you, they tried their best." Molly shushed her and wiped a tear which fell on Jade's cheek without the girl realizing it.

"Nothing changes, You are our daughter and you have place in our family forever because we love you so much Jade. You know that, right? This would only mean that you'd get a chance to learn a little bit more about your past. More than any legal documents or social workers could ever tell you." Said Molly, carefully looking at Jade to see her reaction but Jade was just sitting there, not knowing what she wanted to do.

"they sent an invitation for a family reunion which they'll have this summer." Again no answer from Jade.

"It's ok if you don't want to go. It's up to you. You can always decide later, maybe one day in the future you'll want to meet them and if you do, we'll be here standing by your side. You have all the time you need." Said Arthur kindly, patting Jade's hand which was clenched in fist on the table.

"I don't want to. I don't want them. They're not my family, you are. You said I'm part of this family and it's forever and I'm a Weasley… they are not…I… I don't want them…" whispered Jade looking at Molly with pleading eyes.

"Jade, no one's saying you have to meet them. If you don't want to, that's perfectly fine, they even said in the letter that they'll understand if you decide against it. We understand, everybody's ok with either decision, we just wanted you to know about it so you can consider the options." Molly kept explaining quietly, seeing that Jade was almost hyperventilating.

"No, no no…I don't want them." Repeated Jade, eyes shining with tears.

"Shhh, it's alright baby." Said Molly, holding Jade in a bear hug, lightly combing her hair out of Jade's eyes.

Jade calmed down after some minutes and wiped her eyes.

"I think I'll go to bed now." She said getting up from the chair.

"Alright honey. Don't worry about anything ok?" said Arthur kissing her forehead.

"We're so proud of you, whatever decision you make, we're proud. And We love you so much Jade. I'm so happy to have you home." Smiled Molly and hugged her daughter one more time.

Jade skipped up the stairs, feeling quite tired and still a little bit confused about what just happened. Something she was sure about her whole life, turned out to be a lie.

In the kitchen…

"So, we should write to Matilda and let her know how Jade decided." Concluded Arthur, flipping the envelope he was holding one more time.

"I would wait few more days dear." Molly smiled, knowing all too well that Jade might change her mind once she calmed down and had time to think about it. She got up, kissed Arthur on the side of his head and went to the living room to send the rest of the kids to get ready for bed.

Jade's POV

I put on the oversized t-shirt I've been sleeping in but decided to get a pair of flannel pajama pants as well, since the air was getting pretty cold from the rain.

I brushed my teeth and washed my face, then wiped it with my towel which I then put on my hook on the wall in the bathroom. There was my cup and my toothbrush alongside the ones for the rest of the family. There were pictures of me with the rest of the Weasleys on the walls of corridors all the way up, past the master's bedroom even around my door. This was my family. The thought alone made me smile. I belonged and I felt sure about my place here. It's been a long time since I felt insecure about that. Yes, there were still moments of hesitation here and there, but that would go away with time because Molly and Arthur were forever.

I closed the door, leaning against it.

There was my bedroom, few new photos added to the walls from last year.

I closed the window halfway and the sound of rain was silenced a bit.

I laid down on top of the covers, staring at the ink blue ceiling.

So there was someone in Ireland., someone who cared enough to look for me, all those years.

...

Next morning was sunny and hot right from the early hour when all the Weasley kids woke up. Molly didn't feel like keeping the house in order with everyone jumping on each other's feet as they used to be especially grumpy on hot days with nothing to do, so she packed picnic and handed George the backpack.

Percy refused to go out, already deep in one of the library books which he borrowed for the summer with special permission of madam Pince.

"I'll never understand why mom stresses so much over cleaning the house, when we make the same mess in one day and she has to start cleaning again." Pondered Fred as they climbed up the hill, taking the right path, leading to one of the Weasleys' favorite spots in the forest.

"Did you get in trouble last night?" asked Fred, unexpectedly changing topic of the conversation and causing Jade to almost choke on a wild strawberry.

"In trouble? No, why should I be in trouble?" she asked, knowing very well why they wanted to know.

"Well, mom an dad talked to you in the kitchen." Explained George.

"…with closed door." Added Fred and Ron with Ginny nodded in agreement. It was a common knowledge among the Weasley kids that whenever a serious conversation took place, it happened in kitchen, behind closed door – which was a sign suspicious enough, on its own, as the door separating living-room and kitchen stayed open most of the day.

"No, it was just a letter that came for me…mom and dad wanted to discuss it with me, that's all." Said Jade quickly and started to walk faster, eager to escape the uncomfortable direction the conversation was turning.

Twins, Ron and Ginny however run after her.

"What was the letter about?" Ron wanted to know.

"Was it from school?" Fred and George asked at the same time.

"No, nothing like that… it was from the social worker…" started Jade. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it with everyone, but once she started, it felt like the right thing to do.

"A social worker?!" exclaimed Ginny. "you're not leaving, are you? Mom said you're my sister forever! She promised!" yelled Ginny with fear in her eyes.

"No, I'm not leaving, of course I'll be here forever." Shushed her Jade.

"Then what?" insisted Ron, and so Jade told them the whole story, about her grandma and the family in Ireland, about the detective and lawyer finding her after all this time, about the invitation and also about her decision to not go.

"What?" – exclaimed Fred.

"How can you not go?" George joined his twin, standing close to each other in the middle of the trail, making it impossible for Jade to continue.

"Well, I have you guys… we're family. I don't need anyone else." She started uncertainly. "Plus, I … it would be just another thing which would make me different. You know what I mean? You wouldn't go, they're not your family and …"

"Rubbish!" laughed Ron. "Ginny goes to visit aunt Muriel almost every year, because she's the only one invited, apparently, us, boys, we're too messy for precious clean house of aunt Muriel or something."

Fred nodded, seeing where Ron was going with this.

"And no one singles her out, we don't think about her as a stranger just because she goes away for a week or so." Added George.

"I hate it there, she makes me wear shoes all the time, even inside the house!" claimed Ginny as if it was hard to believe some people lived that way.

"You know, it would be cool if you could travel there." Started Fred.

"All the possibilities of new ingredients or ideas, the inspiration…" mused George.

"What are you talking about?" frowned Jade.

"Pranks my dear fellow trouble-maker. We need new set of pranks for next school year, and there's no such thing as being over prepared." Nodded George seriously.

Jade shook her head and turned to Ginny who slowed down.

"Ginny what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just thought you could send me a postcard from there. You got a letter now, Fred and George get letters all the time…"

"Which is a secret!" reminded her Fred.

"And they are not letters but orders and consultations with our future business partners." Corrected her George.

"…and even Ron gets letters from Charlie. And Percy from his girlfriend." Finished Ginny. "It's only me who never gets any mail." She looked really sad.

Jade thought about pointing out that if Ginny wrote letter to Charlie as Ron did, she'd get an answer too, but decided against it, seeing how sad her sister looked right now.

"You know what Ginny, next time I go somewhere without you, I'll send you the nicest postcard I can find." She promised and they continued walking.

At the top of the mountain, once they laid down the checkered blanket and pulled out bottles of pumpkin juice, Ron turned to Jade. "So, you're going?"

"I already told you I don't want to go." Said Jade looking down at her bottle, she started to scratch down the label.

"Well, that was before you heard our great reasons to go." Laughed Fred and high-fived his twin, but when they saw how quiet Jade got, they let it be and changed the topic, telling Ron tips how to fight the troll -which he'll have to do in front of the school before he'll be sorted into the house.

After they came back from the trip, tired and sweaty from the hot weather, Molly sent them upstairs to change and get some rest.

Jade climbed up the wooden stairs and was about to enter her own room, when she changed her mind and continued up, stopping in front of Percy's door.

She knocked lightly and entered after he called her in.

"Can we talk for a minute?" she asked, remembering how talking to Percy helped her decide about going to Hogwarts or not.


End file.
